Ah, Phuket, keep going

BUDGET airline AirAsia X started 10 years ago with a racy Tweed billboard – “Phuket, I’ll go’’ – and now its “gamechanging” flights into the Gold Coast are tipped to grow.

The low-cost carrier chose Surfers Paradise to yesterday mark its 10th birthday since launching with three weekly return Kuala Lumpur to Gold Coast flights in late 2007.

It now has 11 weekly return flights, seven return flights from Gold Coast to Auckland and connects to 125 destinations across Asia.

Gold Coast Tourism chairman Paul Donovan recalled the cheeky Phuket ad campaign, which drew advertising standards complaints, at the birthday function at the Q1 tower’s Skypoint.

The risque billboard saying “Cheap enough to say Phuket, I’ll go” was one they probably would not get away with these days, Mr Donovan said.

But it was an exciting time when the Gold Coast secured the first AirAsia X’s flights.

“It was especially exciting for us because (the Gold Coast) was AirAsia X’s first destination but it was also our first non-stop long-haul flight and it was really important for us.”

Back then, he led a delegation to Kuala Lumpur including now Tourism and Events Queensland CEO Leeanne Coddington and then State Tourism Minister Margaret Keech to pitch the Gold Coast as a destination.

After meeting AirAsia X founder Tony Fernandes they walked out with a deal for three weekly return flights, which was above his expectations, Mr Donovan recalled.

“I couldn’t believe it. We walked out of there high-fiving and fist-pumping.”

Since then, AirAsia X and its distinctive red-and-white planes have put on 2.4 million seats between the Gold Coast and Kuala Lumpur. It has also flown 400,000 seats between Auckland and Gold Coast in the past 20 months.

AirAsia X Malaysia CEO Benyamin Ismail said the airline would reassess its Gold Coast flight numbers after the Commonwealth Games in April next year.

“The Commonwealth Games is going to be great for us,” Mr Ismail said.

“I think the Gold Coast is actually still under served in terms of the people globally who know about it ... One thing that’s important is to try and grow the number of flights we have here within reason and extend the connections to all the routes.”

Gold Coast Tourism CEO Martin Winter said AirAsia X’s arrival was game-changing and showed resilience when the Global Financial Crisis hit 10 months after launching: “They said we’re not going to abandon the Gold Coast.”