Gold Coast back on international map as travel restarts

The world is slowly reopening for Covid-weary Australians with more international routes restarting in coming weeks.

The Gold Coast rolled out the welcome mat for the return of Scoot Airlines with a Valentine’s Day message in the sand at North Burleigh.

Travel options are slowly increasing for Covid-weary Australians with the Gold Coast welcoming its first passenger flight from Asia in two years, and Qantas to restart six international routes in coming weeks.

From Wednesday, Qantas will relaunch flights to Dallas-Fort Worth followed by Brisbane-Singapore, Sydney-Manila and Sydney-Jakarta on March 27.

On March 28, Qantas will return to Bali from Sydney followed by Brisbane-Los Angeles on April 1.

The ramp up is in response to Australia’s full border reopening from February 21, which is expected to see airlines better able to fill their seats with travellers in both directions.

Low cost carrier Scoot chose Valentine’s Day to make its return to the Gold Coast, operating its first flight into the holiday strip in two years on Monday.

The service was welcomed back with a message in the sand on North Burleigh beach, leaving passengers and crew in no doubt about the significance of the flight.

Queensland Airports chief executive Chris Mills said the return of Scoot was an important step towards rebuilding international travel in and out of the Gold Coast.

“International travel has more complexity than domestic services and it will take time for the numbers to build back up,” Mr Mills said.

“It will take a while to get back to the million international passengers a year that were travelling through Gold Coast Airport pre-Covid-19.”

Scoot CEO Campbell Wilson said the resumption of the airline’s Singapore-Gold Coast service was well-timed, just a week before Australia’s reopening to international tourists.

Launched a decade ago, more than a million people had flown with Scoot between the two destinations in that time, he said.

“It is evident that the Gold Coast remains a much-loved destination and commemorating our return here on Valentine’s Day makes it all the more special as we look forward to reuniting loved ones across borders and reigning the love for travel,” Mr Wilson said.

Destination Gold Coast CEO Patricia O’Callaghan said the flight represented a significant milestone for recovery, and she thanked Scoot for their vote of confidence in the region.

“The tides are turning for tourism on the Gold Coast and we are thrilled to once again welcome Scoot back, which is the beginning of an exceptionally bright future ahead for international travel,” Ms O’Callaghan said.

“The Gold Coast has gone through a significant transformation with new experiences and attractions just waiting to be explored.”

Prior to the Covid pandemic, the Gold Coast Airport was Australia’s fifth busiest international gateway, behind Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth.

Other than a few trans-Tasman flights in mid-2021 when the Australia-New Zealand bubble was operating, the Gold Coast has seen no international travellers in the two years of the health crisis.