The Hunter Region, Central Coast and Northern NSW will have direct access to one of Australia’s most iconic coastal destinations from 4 January, when local airline Fly Pelican, commences flights to Queensland’s Sunshine Coast.

The new service will operate three return services a week for 12 weeks over the Summer months, on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

Fly Pelican will operate the service from Newcastle Airport to Sunshine Coast Airport on a 19-seat Jetstream 32 turboprop aircraft, providing the region with a third Queensland destination.

Newcastle Airport CEO Dr Peter Cock said the new route was just reward for the region that had been outperforming most other airports across the country since the easing of travel restrictions.

“We’ve seen a strong demand for both inbound and outbound leisure travel since borders reopened. Forecasts suggest our region is outperforming most others in terms of air travel and we hope to see this demand continue to climb in the lead up to Christmas,” he said.

“We have found ourselves in several discussions regarding new route opportunities in the last couple of months and it’s no surprise the Sunshine Coast has emerged as a new service from Newcastle.

“We know many people from our region enjoy holidaying on the Coast’s iconic destinations such as Noosa, Coolum and Maroochydore. 

“Equally, this new service offers a chance for our region to showcase its wares to Queenslanders. Greater access to the vibrant city of Newcastle, beautiful coastline of Port Stephens and the amazing food and wine of the Hunter Valley is a great result for the local visitor economy.”

Also speaking, CEO of Fly Pelican Airlines Marty Hawley said he was very excited about offering the new travel opportunity.   

“It is really exciting to launch this new service, linking Newcastle directly to the Sunshine Coast for the first time ever,” he said.

“We look forward to welcoming Sunshine Coast residents on board our aircraft featuring our newly refurbished cabins with snacks and refreshments provided, which is all part of the Fly Pelican experience.

“We encourage locals at both ends to explore a beautiful part of Australia, support the service and help make it a long-term proposition.

“Whilst this route is commencing as a 12 week service, we hope it will develop into a year round offering relatively quickly.”