Jetstar will launch direct flights from Adelaide to the Sunshine Coast in Queensland from September this year to meet growing demand for holidays to the region.
The new services, which are the only direct flights between Adelaide and the Sunshine Coast, will operate three times a week from 30 September 2016, ahead of the spring school holidays in South Australia. The flying is made possible by changes to other parts of the Jetstar network and rebalancing capacity in response to market demand.
The Sunshine Coast will be Jetstar’s fourth direct Queensland destination from Adelaide. The low fares airline already offers direct flights between Adelaide and Brisbane, Cairns and the Gold Coast.
It’s the second new Jetstar route to be launched from Adelaide in the past six months. Adelaide-Avalon (Melbourne) flights began operating in March this year.
Jetstar Airways Head of Commercial and Operations Improvement Carly Povey said direct services from Melbourne and Sydney were performing well and she’s confident the new Adelaide-Sunshine Coast service will be similarly well supported.
“The Sunshine Coast is one of our most popular leisure destinations and we’re sure Adelaide holidaymakers, as well as Queensland tourism operators, will warmly welcome today’s announcement that a low fares airline option is now available on the route,” Ms. Povey said.
“The Sunshine Coast offers a range of holiday choices for South Australians, from the stunning coastal resorts of Caloundra, Mooloolaba and Noosa to the beautiful hinterland national parks. The Jetstar team is proud to have such a large presence in South Australia and to be providing low fares which drive tourism and provides value for money holidays for locals. On the Sunshine Coast, we now offer three times more flights than our competitor and this cements our position as the leading airline servicing the region.”
In total Jetstar will now offer more than 10,000 seats to the Sunshine Coast each week, with three return flights from Adelaide, 25 return flights from Melbourne and up to 31 return flights from Sydney.
Jetstar’s new flights represent over 56,000 additional seats between Adelaide and Maroochydore every year and Sunshine Coast Deputy Mayor Cr Tim Dwyer said the airport is looking forward to welcoming more South Australian visitors to the region.
“This is a tremendous show of support for our region from Jetstar and we can’t wait to see more South Australians enjoying their holidays here. The flights also provide an opportunity for locals to sample the delights that South Australia has to offer,” Cr Dwyer said.
Return services between Adelaide and the Sunshine Coast will be operated using Jetstar’s 180-seat airbus A320 aircraft on Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. Jetstar now operates three domestic routes to the Sunshine Coast.