There’s gonna be a croc-off! Australia Zoo’s Robert Irwin reckons Bonza’s new flight route between the Sunshine Coast and Darwin will heighten the rivalry between the two places and “couldn’t be more excited”.
The Wildlife Warrior was on hand at Beerwah’s The Crocodile Hunter Lodge by Australia Zoo to share the announcement recently in front of media and tourism representatives.
The new route, which marks Bonza’s 11th service out of the Sunshine Coast, starts on November 29 and will run twice weekly on Wednesdays and Saturdays.
The regular fares – starting from $149 per person, one way – coincide with Tourism NT’s current media blitz campaign, Summer Done Differently, that aims to inspire Australians to travel to the Territory between now and March next year.
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The flights are expected to bring another 40,000 people annually through Sunshine Coast Airport in a huge boost to the local economy.
“To see what Bonza are doing in conjunction with Sunshine Coast Airport, that direct flight from Darwin to the Sunny Coast is massive for the entire region, for Australia Zoo, for Crocodile Hunter Lodge and for everyone who lives and works here,” he said at the media conference outside the luxury accommodation’s Warrior Restaurant and Bar.
“It further heightens that rivalry we have with the NT, whose crocs are bigger and badder.
“So finally, we have the two crocodile capitals of Australia linked: Darwin and the Sunshine Coast. We couldn’t be more excited.
“We’re all about spreading the message of conservation but also the message of sustainable tourism. The Sunny Coast does that so incredibly well.
“Since our very small, humble beginnings as the Beerwah Reptile and Fauna Park, which became the Queensland Reptile and Fauna Park and now Australia Zoo, we’ve always been about supporting our local community. And as the zoo grows, our support grows.
“We really want our domestic and international visitors to celebrate this amazing region. And this is just another great way to really bolster our economy here and keep the Sunshine Coast a tourism hot spot.”
Sunshine Coast Airport general manager – aviation and commercial Scott Norris said Bonza’s new route was the first of any airline to connect the region with the Northern Territory.
“For people on the Sunshine Coast, visiting the Northern Territory is so much easier: a short flight to Darwin and then onwards to the Litchfield and Kakadu national parks,” he said.
“It’s an amazing opportunity for our people in this region.
“Sunshine Coast Airport is very proud to also say that this is the 11th service from Bonza connecting the Sunshine Coast and regional Australia. We’re very proud of now flying to 14 destinations across Australia and New Zealand.
“This service is only possible with the expansion of our runway in 2020.”
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Darwin also opened up Asia and Europe to Sunshine Coast travellers, he told Sunshine Coast News.
But it’s not the only new destination Sunshine Coast Airport has in its sights.
“The rest of Australia is certainly on our radar in terms of where we want to have connections to,” Mr Norris said.
“At the moment, we don’t have a connection directly into Western Australia, Tasmania and limited services into South Australia. So, they’re high on our target list to make those connections easier.”
Sunshine Coast Airport interim CEO Gary Allen told Sunshine Coast News after the media conference that the new air link with Darwin “means the world to the Sunshine Coast”.
Growth in our airport numbers was heading “up and up at the moment” and he said Bonza was introducing people from different states to the Sunshine Coast.
But Mr Allen expected the new route would result in “two-way traffic”: not only bringing travellers from the Northern Territory here but also opening up experiences and wonders for Sunshine Coast tourists.
Bonza chief commercial officer Carly Povey said the new route was “game-changing” for the region and the flights would come “just in time for Christmas”.
“It’s been somewhere that (customers) asked us for quite repeatedly,” she said.
“There’s just beautiful synergy between the two destinations. People from the Northern Territory are looking to see all that the Sunshine Coast has to offer but also, people really want the chance to fly to somewhere new and see more of their own backyard because they can and they can do it with less time and less money.”
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