Teen campaigner on hand as first Jetstar flight arrives in Dunedin from Gold Coast
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.
Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero
,
a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
RNZ News
an hour ago
- RNZ News
Ashburton's Market Day to move after retailer complaints
The Ashburton Market Day has historically closed East Street from Havelock Street down to Moore Street, but the Ashburton District Council has now restricted road closures in that area to outside business hours. Photo: LDR / Ashburton Guardian Market days are no longer welcome on a section of Ashburton's main street during business hours. It means a popular annual market day in September has to move - but only just down road. Retailers had argued the town's main street was no place for a market as the road closures hurt local shops. The Ashburton District Council voted last week to ban events on the block of East Street, south of Havelock Street, if they required road closures. The organiser of Ashburton's annual market day sees the decision as positive. Spealing to LDR this week, Carol Johns said she was already looking to move the market day one block north on East Street, in front of Baring Square East. "I was just waiting for the council to make a decision. "I'm not worried, I'll move and the market day will still go ahead. "Nothing changes, we just move down the road a wee bit. "There are more positives than negatives." The move means Johns will have to pay for a new traffic management plan, but only has to contact three businesses about a road closure, rather than 96. Photo: LDR / Ashburton Guardian Baring Square East had a $2.45 million upgrade in 2023 to coincide with the construction of the $62.3m Te Whare Whakatere, Ashburton's library and civic centre. That investment led to the majority of councillors voting to close the southern end of East Street off to market events during business hours, at a council meeting on 18 June. The annual market day attracts thousands of people to Ashburton. It is held on South Canterbury Anniversary Day, on the fourth Monday of September, which is not an Ashburton District public holiday. When discussing the options last week, councillor Tony Todd said historically the local businesses were heavily involved in the market day, previously known as Boulevard Day, but times have changed. "The event was fully supported by local retailers but over time that support has declined, and other operators have been involved," Todd said. "The day still attracts a large number of people to the CBD that mainly walk the street and the vendor stalls have become a barrier to get into retailers stores. "It's time for a change. "The market day is still important to the town so we should support it, but I think a new location will breathe new life back into it." Another issue is Burnett and Tancred streets becoming one way, which means they also close when East Street is closed, Todd said. Councillor Phill Hooper felt no events should occur south of Havelock Street as the council had invested in making Baring Square an event space. "We spent the moolah out here, let's have it out here," Hooper said. The councillors voted 9-1 for the section of East Street south of Havelock Street to be off limits to events 'involving trade and associated equipment' between 8am-5:30pm, Monday to Saturday. Hooper was the lone opposing vote, supporting the alternative option of no events south of Havelock Street. Compliance and development group manager Ian Hyde said a short closure for an event with no stationary caravans, stalls, tents or other structures could still be permitted.
RNZ News
3 hours ago
- RNZ News
Florist told to stop the music: 'No one out front can hear it'
Francie Croy says she normally listens to talkback radio on her phone in the backroom of her flower shop, but Onemusic says she still needs to pay. Photo: 123rf A Hawkes Bay florist has had her music listening habits nipped in the bud, after a licensing organisation told her to turn the tunes off at the shop or buy a licence. Francie Croy listens to the tunes on her phone while she works at her Waipukurau store, but was contacted by Onemusic, which issues licences for certain music to be played in a commercial setting for a fee, so artists get their royalties. That includes music played while people are on hold on the phone, at a hairdressing salon, music radio in the background at the office or thumping tunes on the factory floor - there is a cost to anything outside of personal use. The E-Central Flowers owner told Checkpoint that she received a phone call from OneMusic, after failing to respond to an email from the company. "This girl just started to say to me, 'do you play music in your shop?', and I said it's not very often, and she said 'whatever music you play, you're gonna have to have a licence for it'. " When Croy asked what the cost of the licence would be, she was told it would depend on the square footage of her shop. "I thought, well, hang on a minute love, you're in Auckland, are you going to send someone down here to measure up my shop and then charge me the appropriate licence?" Croy said it was rare for her to play music in the store, normally only listening to talkback radio on her phone, mostly in the backroom. "No one out front of the shop can hear it, but she said to me that I would still have a licence to have to do that because sometimes Newstalk ZB plays music." She said after the phone call she was sent another email from OneMusic. "It was a certificate thing, saying this is confirmation that you have advised us that you do not play music in your business and will not play music represented by this place. "It includes television, radio stations, apps, digital music services, Spotify, Apple, YouTube, CD's, DVD's, Blu-ray, vinyl and cassette tapes, and the list goes on." Croy said she had no idea that being charged for playing music at her business was even a possibility. "It's just on my phone, you know, it's just out the back... I just got such a surprise." She said she had spoken to multiple other small businesses in the same area who had received the same message from OneMusic. The Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment said OneMusic licensed copyright works and MBIE did not have oversight of the scheme. It said businesses that play music for their staff and/or customers need a licence and the licensing fees paid are distributed to producers and recording artists. "If a business does not wish to pay any licensing fee to play music, they should not play music. To do so without a licence means the copyright owner may sue the business and award damages. "A business who wishes to dispute the terms and conditions of the scheme may make an application to the Copyright Tribunal. If the Tribunal determines that the licensing scheme is unfair it may order changes," it said. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
RNZ News
3 hours ago
- RNZ News
Historic Christchurch theatre to be sold by council
The council has spent about $8m on the site so far. Photo: Supplied The historic Odeon Theatre in Christchurch is to be sold by the Canterbury Regional Council, which purchased the quake-damaged building in 2020. The council bought the Category One Historic Places building, along with the neighbouring Lawrie & Wilson Auctioneers building and several other nearby parcels of land. At today's council meeting, councillor Nick Ward said about $8 million had been spent on the site, including the purchase price, maintenance costs and the cost to stabilise the earthquake-damaged frontage of the theatre. The Odeon Theatre is the oldest masonry theatre in New Zealand having been built in 1883 and is a Historic Places Category 1 building. One of the most notable uses was for the public meetings held in 1893 when Kate Sheppard led the campaign for women's suffrage from Christchurch. The building is currently partly-demolished, and propped up. The Lawrie and Wilson's building is a Historic Place Category 2 building, built in 1910. That building has now been restored and is being rented out as a office space. The buildings and land neighbour the Canterbury Regional Council headquarters. Inside the Odeon Theatre. Photo: Supplied When the council purchased the buildings, it said it wanted to enable flexibility for future developments, preserve historically significant buildings and control developments around its headquarters. The council staff report said in 2023 the council put the site out to tender for a long-term lease, but was unsuccessful. The report said holding on to the land parcels would have ongoing costs, including interest on borrowing, rates and about $350-400,000 a year in maintenance. It noted that the development of CBD commercial land was not the council's core business. The report recommended the council sell the sites, but also presented options to hold on to the sites, or lease them out for development. At today's council meeting the council voted to sell the sites, with the proposal supported by 15 of the 16 regional councillors. Councillor Joe Davies - who was the only councillor to vote against the proposal - said he thought the central city land was strategic, and the council should keep hold of it. Councillor Ward said he had a love of old buildings, but a commercial decision needed to be made. "I know what it has cost us to date, and it is around $8 million. So the sooner we can move on and sell the Odeon and square up the parcel of land next to it, the better for all of us. It's not our core business. Sometimes the first loss is the best loss and you just have to move on." The council report said an external report had confirmed that the likelihood of the Odeon having its heritage protection removed, allowing its demolition, was very low. The council voted 15-1 to sell the parcel of land. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
