Virgin Australia has signaled its continued commitment to the Gold Coast after signing a new agreement with airport operator Queensland Airports Limited which underpins the airline’s services to the region for the next decade.

The 10-year agreement builds on a longstanding partnership between the airport and Virgin Australia, which first launched flights between Sydney and the Gold Coast in 2001 and now operates up to 50 flights a day between the Gold Coast and Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra, Adelaide and Bali.

Queensland Airports Limited CEO Amelia Evans said the agreement was testament to the airline and airport’s joint commitment to creating valuable connections for the Gold Coast community.

“As an airport, our purpose is to connect people, places and communities and our partnership with Virgin Australia is an important part of delivering that for the Gold Coast and Northern New South Wales regions,” Ms Evans said.

“More than 36 million passengers have flown with Virgin Australia through Gold Coast Airport since it commenced operations here in 2001.

“Its first flight from Gold Coast Airport was to Sydney and twenty-three years on, that route continues to be our most popular connection – with Virgin Australia now operating 120 direct flights between the two cities each week.

“Gold Coast Airport now welcomes almost 50 flights a day operated by Virgin Australia and we look forward to building on these connections even further through our new 10-year agreement.”

Virgin Australia CEO Jayne Hrdlicka said as one of the largest operators at Gold Coast Airport, Virgin Australia has an important role to play in providing great value and choice to passengers travelling to and from the region.

“The Gold Coast is among our most popular destinations for leisure travellers, and we regularly increase capacity during the holidays to give our passengers more opportunities to visit,” Ms Hrdlicka said.

“As a proudly south east Queensland-based company, we are committed to connecting locals and visitors to the region.”

Virgin Australia has applied for additional capacity to Indonesia through the International Air Services Commission (IASC) which, if granted, could see the airline restart services from the Gold Coast to Perth (and onwards to Bali) from later this year.

‍