Landing at Maroochydore just got a lot less cramped. Sunshine Coast Airport (MCY) has opened a new arrivals precinct and baggage claim area nearly three times the size of the old one, anchored by a 92-metre luggage carousel — almost double the previous belt's length. With roughly 20,000 passengers touching down every week, the longer carousel means more bags on the belt at once and shorter waits at the crush point.
The opening is the latest stage of a $170 million terminal redevelopment. New bathrooms, extra seating and a terminal-wide water cooling system have also come online, welcome news in a Queensland summer.
There's more to come. An outbound baggage facility opened in February 2026, and by the time the project wraps in 2027 the terminal will have almost doubled in size, from 6,100sqm to 11,750sqm. The domestic departure lounge will triple to 3,750sqm, gates rise from five to seven, and check-in gains 18 self-service kiosks plus 10 automatic bag drops. The build is also chasing sustainability credentials, with mass timber, rainwater harvesting, expanded solar and energy-efficient climate control.
The airport handled about 1.8 million passengers in FY26 and expects 2.4 million by 2030 — and it's increasingly a genuine gateway rather than a regional afterthought. Qantas, Virgin Australia, Jetstar, Alliance and Air New Zealand link the Sunshine Coast to Sydney and Melbourne (which together account for 88% of seats), plus Adelaide, Cairns, Auckland, Bali and Singapore. One caveat for Kiwi-bound travellers: Jetstar will suspend its Sunshine Coast–Auckland route from October 2026.
For anyone flying into South-East Queensland, the takeaway is simple: you can now skip Brisbane airport entirely and start your holiday the moment you land. The full transformation lands in 2027.
