The two new daily return services are among the first of Rex’s nationwide expansion to major cities from its traditional regional network and are a forerunner to further routes such as Sydney and Melbourne to Brisbane.

Rex deputy chairman John Sharp said ahead of the inaugural flight, the Gold Coast had already shot to the airline’s top regional destination.

“The response that we’ve had since we started to sell tickets three weeks ago from Sydney and Melbourne to the Gold Coast, the response has been by far the best, the response has been phenomenal,” Sharp told ABC Gold Coast.

The inaugural Boeing 737-800 jets flights that have capacity for 176 passengers were fully booked.

“We’ve got a full flight today. The plane is fully booked out of Melbourne to Coolangatta,” Sharp said.  “In fact the next few flights are fully booked and have been booked for over a week.”

Launch fares for the flights, secured in a deal between Rex, Queensland Airports, the Gold Coast City Council and Destination Gold Coast, are $69 for the Sydney route, while a Melbourne flight costs $79.

Costs of the flights will be cut by 50 per cent from 1 April under the Federal Government’s $12 billion tourism and aviation package to encourage domestic travel.
Rex will maintain its flights that currently service Queensland regional destinations including Townsville, Cairns and Mt Isa.

Having forged its reputation linking regional centres, Rex’s ambition to challenge Virgin and Qantas by moving into the capital city market however hasn’t been without hiccups. It was reported that only 21 passengers travelled on one flight and 14 on another from Sydney to Melbourne on its entry to the capital city schedule last week.

“The overall objective is to expand to have a network of all the capital cities of Australia including some of the major regional cities,” Sharp said. “For example we already fly to Cairns and Townsville and we want to extend that service that we’ve had for some years and to connect it to the major capital cities like Melbourne and Sydney.

“Rex’s entry to the domestic market has put some real competition in there. What we’re doing is giving people more choice, more competition better prices, more frequency, it’s a really good outcome for travellers.”

Queensland Airports CEO Chris Mills said the arrival of the Rex flights was a boost for the Gold Coast that was devastated this time last year by flight and interstate travel shutdowns. “Last Easter we were completely shut, we had no flights, walking through the terminal it was a ghost town,” Mills said.

“The difference is stark. It’s not just great for the Gold Coast Airport and the team, it’s more broadly the retailers, the hotels, the theme parks, everyone who is going to benefit from the amount of people coming in.

“It’s certainly a lot brighter place to be than 12 months ago.”