Qantas plane from Queenstown in collision with airbridge at Brisbane Airport

A Qantas flight from New Zealand that had just touched down in Brisbane had its windscreen shattered after it was hit by an airbridge on Wednesday evening.

QF186 from Queenstown landed at Brisbane shortly after 6.30pm (local time) and a Facebook post by Brisbane Incident Alerts reported that “while positioning at the gate, the aerobridge made contact with the aircraft, resulting in the front windscreens being shattered.”

Photos accompanying the post show an airbridge extended over the nose of the Boeing 737-800, and one of the cockpit windscreens appears smashed after the collision. It is understood no one was injured in the incident and passengers disembarked the plane via stairs.

A Qantas spokesperson told Stuff the airline is investigating how an airbridge made contact with the aircraft.

“The aircraft will be inspected by engineers in Brisbane and repaired before returning to service.”

This is the second collision between an airbridge and aircraft to occur at Brisbane Airport in recent months. In May, an Air New Zealand flight bound for Auckland had to be cancelled after it hit an airbridge.

The Boeing 777 suffered a 7cm puncture in the collision. While pushing back from the gate, the aircraft made contact with the airbridge and required a thorough inspection by engineers. The jet later returned to Auckland at low level, unpressurised and without passengers, where it was repaired.

Qantas is investigating how an airbridge made contact with one of their aircraft at Brisbane Airport. Photo / Brisbane Incident Alerts

This latest incident comes as Queenstown Airport prepares for its busy winter travel season, starting this long weekend.

The southern airport said about 248,000 passenger arrivals and departures are expected in July and August, and about 226,000 in September. There will be an average of 65 flights a day between July 5 and August 31.

Passengers disembarked the plane via stairs. Photo / Brisbane Incident Alerts

Australian families will begin flying in for their school holidays this week, with the Matariki public holiday tomorrow and Mardi Gras Queenstown on Saturday also boosting passenger numbers into the region. Another surge is expected when New Zealand school holidays begin on June 28.

“We’re always excited to welcome visitors for their winter holidays,” interim chief executive officer Todd Grace said.

“It will be snug in the terminal, but our operations team is well drilled, and the buzz these peak-season travellers bring is a real boost for the region.”

Air New Zealand recently announced it will switch from the Airbus A320 to the larger A321neo aircraft on the Auckland-Queenstown route from July to November, and it will also add one flight, increasing capacity by a total of more than 19,400 seats.

The Australian airlines have also added extra flights for winter. The busiest day is likely to be Sunday, July 20, when more than 5000 passenger movements are expected.