Singapore link likely for Gold Coast Airport

THE Gold Coast is poised to be a one-stop hop from the rest of the world, with the city's tourism and airline bosses saying flights directly linking Singapore and China are only a matter of time.

Gold Coast Airport boss Paul Donovan said flights from the two key tourism markets were being targeted as part of his company's growth strategy and he was working with existing airline partners to secure them."The flights will happen," Mr Donovan said. "It is just a matter of when."

The most likely companies to introduce Singapore and China flights from Singapore and China would be Jetstar and Virgin Blue. Both have expressed interest in the possibility of adding more international flights to the Coast.Aside from being massive tourism markets, both destinations are gateways to exotic places in the northern hemisphere.

"Asia is going to be an important part of our strategy of establishing an international network of airline partners to offer global flight coverage," a Virgin Blue spokeswoman said.A Jetstar spokeswoman said the company was focused on increasing flights from the city, both within Australia and internationally.

"We have a long-term deal with the airport, and a strong international schedule from there," she said."It is too premature to speculate about what future destinations may be ... but certainly the Gold Coast is a key market for us."

AirAsiaX flies to Kuala Lumpur out of the Gold Coast daily, but spokesman Darren Wright said the company had no plans to add flights to other Asian destinations.Figures released this week show tourists to the Coast from Singapore increased 17 per cent last year and China jumped 16 per cent.

At a SKAL International lunch this week, Queensland Tourism Industry Council chief executive Daniel Gschwind said: "We need to increase aviation seats by 35 to 54 per cent to achieve our visitor targets by 2020."

Mr Gschwind said targeting flights to Singapore was a logical next step.Gold Coast Tourism chief executive officer Martin Winter said flights from Singapore would be a boost to the "destination's profile and accessibility".

Source = goldcoast.com.au