Qantas Airways is backing the emergence of the Gold Coast as a business destination to support the airline's return to the well-known tourism hotspot.
When QF 860 landed to a traditional water cannon welcome at Gold Coast Airport at 0918 AEST on Sunday, it marked the first scheduled Qantas service to the Glitter Strip since 2008.
The airline will operate three return services a day between the Gold Coast and Sydney using Boeing 737 aircraft, representing up to 7000 seats a week.
Qantas domestic chief executive Lyell Strambi said the Gold Coast was more than a tourist destination.
"Tourism obviously is key here but you think about the business that supports tourism and you also think the way that this location has branded itself as a destination for corporate travellers, for conferences, conventions and those sorts of things," Strambi told reporters after arriving on the inaugural flight from Sydney.
"I looked at that and thought, 'we really have to be here as Qantas'."
The new services comes amid Virgin Australia's move upmarket to gain a greater share of business passengers, a market Qantas has traditionally dominated.
The John Borghetti-led Virgin has built a lounge at Gold Coast Airport and offered business class on most domestic routes since early 2012.
Gold Coast Airport chief operating officer Paul Donovan said the types of passengers on Sunday's inaugural flight showed why Qantas's return was a logical one.
"When you see today the number of suits that are coming off the plane, the amount of platinum frequent flyers, the Chairman's club members and all those people coming off the plane and then you see all these people checking in, there's no question that this decision was a great decision," Donovan said.
Qantas pulled out of the Gold Coast in 2008, citing high fuel prices at the time, leaving its low-cost subsidiary Jetstar to operate out of the southern Queensland gateway.
Strambi said Qantas's 2000 frequent flyers living on the Gold Coast were also a major factor in choosing to return.
"It is for them more than anything else that is the reason why we are actually back in town," Strambi said.
Queensland tourism minister Jann Stuckey, whose electorate of Currumbin takes in the airport, said the government provided no financial commitment for Qantas to return, just some "political will and encouragement".
* The reporter travelled to the Gold Coast courtesy of Qantas.
