Gold Coast Airport has confirmed AirAsia will return to the city in 2023 after more than two and a half years.
Flights between the Gold Coast and Kuala Lumpur will resume on February 16 next year, as part of the airline’s expansion across Australia.
There will be three return services a week at first, with hopes of increasing to five a week by the end of the year, bringing almost 59,000 seats to the Gold Coast every year and generating over $45 million to the local economy.
Queensland Airports Limited CEO Amelia Evans said the team was excited to see the return of AirAsia X.
“Since AirAsia X last landed at Gold Coast Airport, we’ve opened our brand-new International Terminal and we look forward to welcoming the AirAsia X team and passengers back, this time through our impressive new building,” Ms Evans said.
“Since its maiden flight, more than two million passengers have flown with AirAsia X between the Gold Coast and Kuala Lumpur, a connection that in 2019 was worth more than $200 million to the local and state economy.
AirAsia X CEO Benyamin Ismail described the Gold Coast as the ‘Gem of Queensland’ and said it was a key leisure destination in its own right as well as gateway to to the rest of Australia.
“We are thrilled to be coming back to the stunning Gold Coast,” he said.
“Fifteen years ago the Gold Coast was the catalyst for the birth of AirAsia X and our Australia expansion, which quickly became one of our most popular core markets.”
Queensland Tourism Minister Stirling Hinchliffe said it was a major coup for Queensland.
“AirAsia X services from Kuala Lumpur had been secured by the Queensland Government’s $200 million aviation attraction war chest, in partnership with Queensland’s four international airports,” Minister Hinchliffe said.
“The return of AirAsia X to Gold Coast Airport’s arrivals board is a terrific investment in Gold Coast tourism and jobs.
“International aviation is highly competitive but absolutely critical to rebuilding Queensland’s post-Covid overseas visitor economy and that’s why we’re backing AirAsia X on the Gold Coast.”
