Another big boost for Gold Coast tourism, with Air Asia X announcing it will be bringing back flights between the Gold Coast and Auckland.
The Malaysia-based airline ditched the service before the pandemic hit, but has opted to reinstate the popular route due to strong demand.
As a result, the airline will be suspending services on the Auckland to Sydney route from 31 January to facilitate the new Gold Coast services.
“Following a thorough network review, we have decided to suspend our services between Sydney and Auckland from late January next year,” AirAsia X CEO Benyamin Ismail said.
“However, we remain committed to Auckland as a destination and will be transferring our services from Auckland to Gold Coast starting 3 February 2024.
“As our very first route which commenced just over 16 years ago, the Gold Coast continues to be a key leisure favourite destination for our Auckland and Asian travellers with its world-renowned white sand beaches and famous theme parks.
“It’s also a hugely popular destination for visiting friends and family both ways and also for students studying”.
The airline said it will continue to monitor the situation and if demand returns, it will consider reinstating the Sydney to Auckland service at a later date.
“However for now and as a leisure-focused airline, we are seeing more demand across the Tasman to and from the Gold Coast.”
Three weekly flights from Auckland to the Gold Coast will take flight from February 3 next year, connecting seamlessly to Kuala Lumpur and adding an additional 6,786 visitor seats weekly through Gold Coast airport.
Queensland Airports Limited Chief Commercial Officer Adam Rowe said the return of AirAsia X’s Gold Coast to Auckland connection would provide more options for travellers.
“This is a welcomed addition to our network and exciting news for travellers – flights between the Gold Coast and Auckland are our busiest international connection, with more than 220,000 passengers travelling on that route since January,” he said.
“Around 60 per cent of passengers travelling between the Gold Coast and New Zealand fly to or from Auckland, and the return of this service will add more than 350,000 extra seats on that route annually,” Mr Rowe said.
Fares are on sale today from 3pm Gold Coast/5pm NZ time, starting from AUD199/NZ179.
