Adelaide Airport celebrated a significant milestone today as Qantas resumed its international flights from the hub for the first time in over ten years. The inaugural flight took off this morning, setting a new route from Adelaide to Auckland.

This launch is poised to deliver substantial benefits to both South Australian travelers and the local economy. In addition to the new route, Qantas is now offering flights from Adelaide to New York, reducing travel time to under 22 hours.

Experts are predicting a notable uptick in tourism for South Australia, as the introduction of these routes could generate upwards of $200 million from the New Zealand and North American markets.

“We are gearing up for an exciting festival season, including the much-anticipated Mad March and the V8 Supercars event, both just weeks away,” said Brenton Cox of Adelaide Airport, highlighting the perfect timing for these new travel offerings.

“We are going to have silly festival season coming up, mad march, the V8s only in a matter of weeks,” Brenton Cox from Adelaide Airport said.

The number of international airlines flying to Adelaide is increasing, with Cathay Pacific and United Airlines both set to start operating out of South Australia within the next two months.

The Adelaide to Auckland route is scheduled to operate four times a week until May next year.

“Once we have got through the season, we will review, look at what worked, look at opportunities to grow and say ‘is this something we can continue?’,” Qantas international and freight chief executive Cam Wallace said.

Cox said he was hopeful of the airline extending the route beyond May.

“Qantas has seen the economic prospects I hope not just until May on this Auckland service but further afield and on more services,” he said.

“Because we currently are a very profitable place to operate from.”