Auckland Airport welcomes first Sunshine Coast service

Media Release | 1 July 2012

Auckland Airport welcomes historic first Sunshine Coast service

Auckland Airport today welcomed the historic first international flight ever into the Sunshine Coast. The inaugural flight left Auckland today for the first of a new Air New Zealand twice-weekly seasonal service between Auckland and the Sunshine Coast.

Auckland Airport general manager aeronautical commercial, Glenn Wedlock, was delighted about the start of the service. “Today marks the culmination of a lot of hard work from Sunshine Coast Airport, Sunshine Coast Destination, Auckland Airport, and Air New Zealand.”

“This is the first ever international flight into the area, so it’s nice to be a part of history. We believe this new seasonal Sunshine Coast service opens up many opportunities for both inbound and outbound travel.

“It’s great to have a connection to a new market and to the expansive Air New Zealand and Virgin network which also offers opportunities to promote the United States and Pacific Island connections across Auckland. Having Air New Zealand deliver the service also offers great choice from seat-only to the full-works.

“Response from the market has been great so far, and we look forward to helping to build the service both inbound and outbound. Kiwis love their warmer weather, the Sunshine Coast beaches and hinterland, Fraser Island and whale-watching and the many other attractions of the region and will be very excited by this new service.

“It’s a fast growing part of Australia with a demographic that has a propensity to travel, and with a lot of great leisure attractions for Kiwis. And the Sunshine Coast also offers a great opportunity for Auckland and New Zealand to show off its attractions as well. This is great news for tourism,” Mr Wedlock said.

The new trial service will be operated by A320s on a Tuesday and Sunday for the seasonal peak between July and September.

Sunshine Coast Airport General Manager Peter Pallot said the last 125 days had been hectic in getting the new international terminal completed in time for the inaugural Air New Zealand flight.

“The team here pulled together and we celebrated the terminal’s opening last Wednesday,” he said.

“The result is fantastic; we now have our first international scheduled passenger flight arrival. We are now ready to attract further business from both domestic and international destinations, we have just completed a new helipad and the next few years will see us add a new aerospace industry precinct in time for the proposed new runway due later this decade.”

“Today begins a new era for our regional airports with this first-ever international scheduled passenger flight to the Sunshine Coast,” Sunshine Coast Mayor Mark Jamieson said, “We now have a new message to send to the nation and the world: that we are open for international business.”

“The Sunshine Coast is an extremely popular leisure destination, and this service offers a convenient option for a mid-winter break”, said Mr Wedlock.

“With just a short trans-Tasman flight between the two destinations, and with world-class passenger processing including Smart Gate, we are confident that there will be plenty of demand and that the service will become a permanent feature in the ever growing choice of travel destinations offered out of Auckland.”

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