Cairns International Airport is one of the busiest airports in Australia with nine international airlines operating 145 scheduled flights each week. Most of these are direct to Cairns. In 1998, 3.1 million passengers arrived at Cairns International Airport and the statistic is expected to be higher in 1999. There are no restrictions on aircraft arrival and departure times. Situated eight kilometres from Cairns CBD, the airport features a range of duty free stores and several well-known 'Australiana' shops including Ken Done and RM Williams. The domestic and international terminals are located on 500 metres apart, with all walkways undercover. Cairns Airport has many facilities including lockers, lost property area, short and long term parking, showers, disabled facilities and post office. Getting to various destinations from the airport, passengers can select from shuttle buses, coaches, taxis, hire cars and limousines. The international carriers operating out of Cairns Airport are Qantas, Air Niugini, Fllight West Airlines, Garuda Indonesia, Cathay Pacific, Singapore Airlines, Continental Micronesia, Malaysia Airlines and Air New Zealand. Of these, Qantas operates the heaviest traffic with 78 flights per week including 14 inbound flights each week from Japan (code-shared with JAL). There are direct flights into Cairns from Nagoya (Japan), Narita (Japan), Hong Kong, Auckland, Port Moresby, Singapore and Guam. Cathay Pacific operates four services per week from Hong Kong; Singapore Airlines operates three flights per week from Singapore; Garuda operates three flights per week from Indonesia flying to Cairns via Bali and Darwin; Continental Micronesia operates two flights weekly from Guam; Malaysia operates two flights per week from Kuala Lumpur, via Darwin and Air New Zealand operates one flight each week from Auckland (code shared with United Airlines.) A $3.50 ($1.75 for children) airport tax is imposed on domestic passengers entering Cairns and there is an $8.00 tax on international passengers. Like the $30 departure tax, these taxes are incorporated into the cost of the passenger's ticket. Domestic Airlines Both of Australia's national airlines - Ansett and Qantas - operate more than 20 domestic flights to and from Cairns every day. All major cities are serviced including Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth, Broome, Coolangatta, Hobart, Alice Springs, Darwin and Townsville. Some flights from Melbourne and Sydney are direct into Cairns, the majority of other flights go via Brisbane. A direct return flight from Melbourne to Cairns costs $1,354 (economy) and $1,774 (first class/business) and the flight takes approximately 4 hours. A direct return flight from Brisbane to Cairns costs $882 (economy) and $1,156 (first class/business). Qantas and Ansett offer a broad range of travel/accommodation packages. A 21-day advance puchase ticket is the least expensive way to travel, providing a substantial discount to the passenger. For example, a 21-day advance purchase ticket Melbourne - Cairns return costs $589, as opposed to the full economy fare of $1,354. A 21-day advance purchase ticket Perth-Cairns return costs $589 as opposed to $1,418, full economy. Several regional airlines - Flight West, Transtate, Skytrans and Eastland Air - operate flights to regional Queensland destinations such as Mt Isa, Bundaberg, Rockhampton, Mackay, Toowoomba, Weipa, Thursday Island, Coen, York Island, Horn Island, Cooktown, Cowbay, Burketown, Karumba, Normanton and Lockhart River. There is no airport in Port Douglas. The closest airstrip to Port Douglas is located at Mareeba (for smallish planes only). Transtate Airlines flies three times a day from Cairns to Dunk Island at a cost of $247 return. A standby fare of $127 return is also available. Eastland Air operates a daily, 14-seater plane service to Lizard Island and is the only airline to fly into the exclusive island resort. The full economy return fare is $388 with discounts available for students. Children are half price. Most of the regional airlines have advance purchase tickets and student discounts available. For example, a 21-day advance purchase return fare from Cairns to Mt Isa is $334 as opposed to a full one-way adult fare of $352. As with all travel arrangements, when flying throughout North Queensland it is smart and economical to plan ahead as much as possible.