The first flight touches down at Dunedin Airport on Tuesday. Photo: RNZ / Tess Brunton
Orange fever has struck Dunedin as it welcomed the return of international flights after a five-year hiatus during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Jetstar service to the Gold Coast was met with cheers, celebration and airport staff clad in orange shirts as the first plane landed on Tuesday afternoon.
It was an exciting moment for local teen Benjamin Paterson who launched a campaign in 2023 to bring trans-Tasman flights back to the city.
"It's thrilling aye, worked hard for this and it's just shocking that it's happening right now," he said.
He and his family were preparing to catch a flight to the Gold Coast - courtesy of Dunedin's mayor Jules Radich who paid for the tickets.
He could not wait for the Gold Coast sunshine after lots of studying for his exams.
A welcome sign at the airport. Photo: RNZ / Tess Brunton
Dunedin was keen to show some southern hospitality for those arriving and to mark the milestone with orange shirts, music, welcome packs and kai.
Among those landing was Dunedin resident Ben Patston who had been celebrating his birthday on the Gold Coast with his family and leapt at the chance to take a direct route home.
Their trip over was much longer.
"6am from here, Dunedin, to Auckland and then we actually got delayed on the way there and then Auckland to the Gold Coast, we got in at about 6pm so overall it was just a seriously long day," he said.
"Compared to today, which was nice and short. We flew out at 9:30am, no delays, crew members were amazing. We had a great experience and we're back at 2:30pm."
The flights will run three days a week, introducing about 58,000 seats a year.
Photo: RNZ / Tess Brunton
Dunedin Airport chief executive Daniel De Bono was thrilled, saying it had taken years of hard mahi to get to this point.
"The best way to describe this for me is that this actually makes the world just that little bit smaller for Dunedin so we're stoked to be actually welcoming these people back," he said.
Forward bookings were already looking good and he hoped travellers would use this new flight to explore the lower South Island, De Bono said.
For those travelling to Australia, he said the Gold Coast did not have to be their final destination with plenty of connecting flights on offer.
He was not ruling out adding more transTasman flights in the future.
"For us, building to daily services to Australia is the ambition but we need to make sure that the Gold Coast service succeeds before we start adding additional flights," he said.
"That's really the next phase is focusing on making sure these services remain sustainable and then potentially build frequency and then add another destination after that."
On Tuesday night, the city's iconic buildings were lit up with orange lights to mark the milestone.
A person watches the flight's touchdown. Photo: RNZ / Tess Brunton
Radich could not wait to see more Australian travellers touch down.
"Sometimes on the Gold Coast it gets too hot, so they want to come to somewhere cooler and we're cool in a couple of senses of the word," he said.
"We're very cool with wildlife, we're very cool with the beaches and the surfing. We're very cool with our heritage architecture, and it's a cool place just to come and hang out and make a change from the Gold Coast."
Dunedin resident Mavis was on the first flight and said it made travelling to see her family easier.
"It's great. I love it. I'll be flying more to the Gold Coast now," she said.
Tourism and Hospitality Minister Louise Upston said it was a milestone for the region.
"When a new airline comes into an airport like Dunedin, it really shows that there is confidence in the visitor experience, confidence about growing numbers," she said.
After a successful campaign, was Paterson planning to push for more direct flights?
"Pretty happy to mark the Gold Coast and maybe it's someone else's job to do that," he said.
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