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Qantas will commence direct flights from Canberra to the Gold Coast for the first time from next Friday, as Queensland reopens its border to the ACT.
From 25 September 2020, travellers from the ACT that have not been in NSW for the past 14 days will be permitted to enter Queensland without entering quarantine. Taking advantage of pent-up demand from Canberrans wishing to holiday in Queensland – and vice versa – Qantas will launch the Canberra-Gold Coast route from the same day.
The 4x weekly Canberra-Gold Coast flights will operate on Sundays, Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays using a QantasLink Boeing 717 with Economy and Business class seats. Economy class tickets start from $189 one-way. The schedule (which will change slightly once daylight savings begins in the southern states) is as follows:
- QF1570 Canberra 12:00 – Gold Coast 13:40
- QF1571 Gold Coast 14:20 – Canberra 16:10
Previously, Qantas customers travelling from Canberra to the Gold Coast would need to change planes in Sydney or fly to Brisbane instead.
Virgin Australia also serves the Canberra-Gold Coast route and is currently offering two flights per week on Mondays and Fridays.
Earlier this week, South Australia also removed its quarantine requirement for travellers coming from the ACT. The first flight from Canberra to Adelaide following this announcement went out full. But so far, Qantas hasn’t added more flights and Virgin has still suspended services between Canberra and Adelaide. This may change soon if demand continues to pick up.
Qantas also plans to resume daily Sydney-Darwin flights when the Northern Territory removes Sydney from its list of COVID-19 hotspots on 9 October.
Travellers from NSW and ACT can also fly to Norfolk Island without a 14-day quarantine period from next month. Travellers from all other Australian states except Victoria can already fly to the island without quarantining as long as they fly from Brisbane and don’t transit any hotspots en-route. Air New Zealand flies once per week from both Brisbane and Sydney to Norfolk Island.
