Hobart will have a new nonstop link to Queensland from December when Tigerair Australia begins flights to the Gold Coast.
The four times weekly Hobart-Gold Coast offering takes off from December 7 2017, Tigerair said on Monday.
The Virgin Australia-owned low-cost carrier (LCC) will be the only airline flying nonstop between Hobart and the Gold Coast.
The Tigerair service will run on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Sundays and operate as a morning departure from Hobart, arriving on the Gold Coast at 1020. The return flight departs Gold Coast at 1050, arriving in the Tasmanian capital in mid-afternoon.
Currently, Qantas’s LCC unit Jetstar, as well as Virgin Australia, offer nonstop flights from Hobart to nearby Brisbane.
Meanwhile, Tigerair said it would add up to four additional weekly Melbourne-Hobart flights to its schedule from December. The airline currently operates up to eight flights a week on the route, according to its website.
Tigerair acting chief executive Peter Wilson launched the new flights at Hobart Airport on Monday alongside Tasmanian Premier Will Hodgman and Hobart Airport interim chief executive Matt Cocker.
“Our great value fares grow and stimulate air travel in this country. These new flights launching in December provide a welcome boost for tourism in both cities, covering the upcoming peak summer holiday travel period and the Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast in April,” Wilson said in a statement.
“This is great news for Tasmanian tourism, for the local economy and most of all, for consumers.”
Gold Coast Airport chief executive Chris Mills said he expected the route to be “embraced by the leisure market” given the popularity of Tasmania and Gold Coast as tourist destinations.
