Gold Coast direct flights return from Auckland for first time in half year

It was "g'day and kia ora, Coolangatta" as the Gold Coast received its first direct flight from New Zealand in more than seven months.

Air New Zealand's flight 187 touched down just before midday AEST at Gold Coast Airport.

The first New Zealanders were welcomed to land by the Biren Aboriginal Dance Group and gifted boxes of Tim Tams.

Emotions ran high as friends and family were reunited at OOL for the first time in half a year.

Roughly 150 Kiwis were booked onto the flight, including some leisure travellers.

The return of direct links to the Gold Coast also coincides with the easing of border restrictions for returning Kiwis. From a minute to midnight, tonight New Zealanders entering the country will no longer need to self-isolate.

It is hoped that this will encourage leisure travellers to return to the popular holiday spots in Queensland.

"Our message to everyone in New Zealand is to 'come and play on the Gold Coast!'" said Destination Gold Coast's CEO Patricia O'Callaghan.

There are plenty of new experiences and destinations that have opened during the travel suspension, that O'Callaghan says should be high up on Kiwis' must visit list. These include new attractions at the Coast's famous water and leisure parks, such as the Steel Taipan rollercoaster at Dreamworld Australia.

Destination Gold Coast's CEO Patricia O'Callaghan. Photo / Supplied

A mid-winter visit to the parks was a "tradition for thousands of Kiwi families" and one she hopes will return.

Prior to 2020 New Zealand was the second largest visitor market to the Coast, behind China.

Pre-pandemic, the Gold Coast saw more than half-a-million people travel between New Zealand and Queensland a year. This dropped to just 20,000 quarantine free journeys during the brief transtasman bubble last year.

A traditional welcome at Gold Coast Airport for New Zealand visitors at the launch of direct Auckland routes, Last April. Photo / Gold Coast Airport, Supplied

Qantas launched a direct service to Auckland in April last year which is currently suspended, but it is hoped Jetstar's links from Christchurch and Wellington to the Gold Coast could resume shortly after the return of two-way travel.