Busy scenes at Gold Coast Airport, but travel troubles continue in COVID-19 pandemic
New photos of the bustling domestic terminal illustrate the gradual resurgence of Gold Coast Airport as tourists flock back to the city - but the tough times certainly aren’t over yet.
Gold Coast
Don't miss out on the headlines from Gold Coast. Followed categories will be added to My News.
PHOTOS of the bustling domestic terminal illustrate the gradual resurgence of Gold Coast Airport as interstate tourists flock back to the city.
The airport has a way to go to claw itself back to the number of flights and passengers pre-coronavirus, but the fresh images are a far cry from deserted scenes captured last year.
Back then at some of its darkest days, the airport traffic reduced from 420 flights a week on average to a handful.
MORE NEWS
Gold Coast to cop a lashing of heavy rain from Thursday
Meanwhile, Qantas has revealed it has reopened international travel bookings from July, despite the Federal Government distancing itself from the decision.
The country’s biggest airline carrier announced on Tuesday it would be taking bookings for its international network months earlier than anticipated.
“We continue to review and update our international schedule in response to the developing COVID-19 situation,” Qantas confirmed.
“Recently we have aligned the selling of our international services to reflect our expectation that international travel will begin to restart from July 2021.”
Within hours, Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack hit back and said the government would decide when international travel would resume.
However, he did flag discussions around a potential New Zealand travel bubble.
“International borders will be opened when international arrivals do not pose a risk to Australians,” he said.
“The Australian government is working on travel arrangements with countries, such as New Zealand, that have low community infections.
“Operations and ticket sales on particular routes are commercial decisions for airlines.”
Qantas CEO Alan Joyce previously pointed to the development of a COVID-19 as the first step towards the return of international flights.
Originally published as Busy scenes at Gold Coast Airport, but travel troubles continue in COVID-19 pandemic
Late TikTok star allegedly part of dodgy sex abuse scheme
A late TikTok sensation who told stories of his life of crime was allegedly part of a scheme to fraudulently claim compensation for sexual abuse before his death.
Gold Coast KFC outlet falls victim to vicious rumour campaign
Queensland Police and the City of Gold Coast have both denied involvement in the temporary closure of a local fast-food outlet. We asked KFC what was really going on.