A major expansion to Brisbane Airport's domestic terminal has been put on hold following a downturn in regional travel.
The construction of the terminal's 2000 square metre, $140 million northern regional satellite terminal, which would be connected to the existing terminal through a 300-metre covered walkway, would increase the number of domestic gates from 61 to 72.
Construction of the satellite terminal, which would be the biggest expansion since the domestic terminal opened in 1988, was due to begin this year.
But Brisbane Airport Corporation spokeswoman Leonie Vandeven said construction had been delayed, due largely to slowing demand associated with a decline in the resources sector.
"Due to softening in the growth of the regional market, the project will now be delivered in stages between 2018 and 2021 in line with forecast demand for both regional and mainline routes," she said.
"The first stage will be the construction of four aircraft parking bays to cater for current demand for active parking bays and provide additional layover parking capacity.
"Two subsequent stages of apron expansion and the construction of the satellite and link walkway are planned."
The new terminal building came with a price tag of about $40 million, with the rest of the project's $100 million bill going towards the apron expansion.
Ms Vandeven said, when completed, the project would provide up to 20 parking positions for a mixture of regional and narrow body jet aircraft.
Those would include aircraft such as Qantaslink's fleet of Dash-8s.
Speaking at the opening of Aviation Australia's new training facility at the airport last week, BAC chief executive Julieanne Alroe said
"The airport welcomed 22.4 million passengers last financial year, underpinning our status as the gateway to Queensland and the best hub in Australia for international and interstate travel to and from regional Queensland," she said.
"With passenger numbers forecast to more than double by 2034, Brisbane Airport is on the cusp of its most exciting phase in its history.
"It will see more than $3 billion privately invested in the next decade to build critical infrastructure at the airport."
Ms Alroe said Brisbane Airport's largest project, the $1.35 billion parallel runway, was on track to be completed by 2020, with tenders for the construction phase currently being evaluated.
