SYDNEY (AFP) - The authorities were investigating on Wednesday how a woman was able to drive her car through a fence and onto the tarmac of a major Australian airport, causing flights to be suspended.

Australian Federal Police said they were called to Brisbane Airport in the eastern state of Queensland late on Tuesday night after a woman "breached the airport perimeter fence in a vehicle".

The woman, 37, was taken to hospital while flights were barred from landing for more than an hour and others were diverted as the car was removed from the tarmac, the Brisbane Courier Mail reported.

"We are continuing to conduct enquiries into this matter. Further information will be provided in due course," police said in a statement.

Brisbane is the host city for this year's G-20 summit of world leaders, which will be held in November.

Brisbane Airport Corporation (BAC) added in a statement that passengers "can be confident" the facility was "safe and secure".

"The systems and processes in place at Brisbane Airport comply with federal government standards," the airport's general manager for operations Stephen Goodwin said.

"However, with Brisbane hosting the G-20 in November, BAC is progressively increasing its security to even higher levels.

"We are currently in the middle of a major upgrade of the airfield perimeter and have already spent A$2 million (S$2.33 million) upgrading the fence line, with at least that much to go before we finish current works."

Mr Goodwin said the "rapid response" to the incident showed the airport's security procedures had worked.