Passengers will soon be able to fly direct from Townsville Airport to Gold Coast Airport, as part of a new deal with Bonza.

The airline announced this morning Gold Coast Airport will be its third base – providing the opportunity to further expand its network, revealing a direct Townsville to Gold Coast connection will take to the skies within months.

Townsville Airport General Manager Brendan Cook welcomed the news, which would see five direct services to the Gold Coast each week.

“This will be Bonza’s fourth route operating out of Townsville Airport, and to see additional services being added shows the confidence Bonza has in the Townsville North Queensland region,” Mr Cook said.

“We know connections between North Queensland and the South-East of the state are important to our customers, and we see that with the popularity of the Brisbane and Sunshine Coast services – this new Gold Coast route will provide passengers with more options,” he said.

“This is also great news for the tourism industry locally, as it opens up our region to more customers by providing visitors from the Gold Coast and Northern NSW a gateway to Townsville and beyond.”

Bonza CEO Tim Jordan said today’s announcement is about creating more depth to Bonza’s network by connecting existing Bonza destinations with the Gold Coast and Northern NSW.

“It allows people in our existing destinations, like Townsville, the opportunity to book an affordable flight to Gold Coast Airport and take a much deserved holiday or long awaited visit to friends and family,” said Tim Jordan, CEO of Bonza.

“New routes from the Gold Coast also mean locals from South Brisbane down to Northern NSW towns, like Ballina and Byron Bay, the chance to explore their own backyard with low-cost flights to regional locations like Mildura, Bundy and Townsville to name a few,” he added.

Bonza’s new flights are set to go on sale before the end of the week. Those signed up in the Fly Bonza app will be first to know when Gold Coast flights are on sale with the app being the only place to book direct.