Dunedin is celebrating going international once again following the announcement of a new flight connection with Australia earlier this week.
The new route between the city and Gold Coast was announced on Monday at Dunedin Airport, which was turned JetStar orange by Dunedin Mayor Jules Radich and airport chief executive Daniel De Bono.
Jetstar will operate three departures and three arrivals a week out of Dunedin, from 24 June 2025, on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays.
Mr Radich says he’s thrilled with the announcement.
“We’ve all been eager to see a regularly scheduled international service reinstated, ever since direct flights to Brisbane stopped in March 2020.
“Congratulations to airport Chairman Chris Hopkins, CEO Dan De Bono and the whole airport team for working so hard and engaging with airline partners over the past four years to explore options for a new service.
“Thank you also to Benjamin Paterson who has worked tirelessly for nearly a year to raise public support for a new trans-Tasman connection – well done. As a gesture of appreciation, the city will pay for your family’s tickets to the Gold Coast on the first flight from my Mayoral fund.
“Thank you to Jetstar for providing these sought-after flights to the Gold Coast – I’m sure they’re going to be extremely popular.
“In honour of our new connection to Australia with Jetstar, we all have orange fever today – and we’re turning the city orange, too.”
Dunedin City Council buildings, St Paul’s Cathedral and Tūhura Otago Museum were lit up in orange to celebrate the news.
“While we’ll be encouraging locals to travel across the ditch, we’ll also focus our efforts on enticing Queenslanders to come here and experience the amazing attractions our city – and the lower South Island – have to offer,” he says.
Dunedin City Council Economic Development Committee Chairman Cr Andrew Whiley says the establishment of the route is a real boon for the city, but now the focus will shift to attracting visitors from Queensland.
“It’s important that we make sure we are seeing good numbers using the service coming from Coolangatta to Ōtepoti-Dunedin.
“Our destination marketing team have already launched a campaign concentrating efforts on Australia and the wider Gold Coast catchment area.
“The goal is to make sure this route is a success, so JetStar and Dunedin Airport can increase the frequency of this service and ultimately consider expanding to other Australian destinations.”
Tickets for the Dunedin-Gold Coast route are on sale now.
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