At long last, this is great news.

This is fantastic news! I'm soooo over the commute from BNE!

Will there be a Qantas Club lounge at OOL?

Competition is such a good thing!!!

QF will most likely convert the JQ canteen back to a QC. 

I'm sure David will fill us in shortly. 

Bang on the money, tronix - JQ 'lounge' will be made over into a Qantas Club, but won't be open until end of year.

Good to know.  Had to fly to the OOL recently and as I cannot stomach Jetstar, I flew Virgin Blue which is not much better than Jetstar.  Qantas is a quality airline and it great to see its return.

Qantas will have to earn back the loyalty lost from the GC Business flyers.

During the last 5 years most business travellers that I am aware of (including myself) have moved over to Virgin.

Come on Qantas tell us what you are going to to do to retrieve the lost loyalty?

This is actually quite annoying. I used to fly weekly on Qantas from OOL to SYD and the sevices were always packed (across the week) and the customers extemely loyal. Only now when Virgin opens a lounge does Qantas respond. Perhaps Qantas should be guided more by its customers than its competitor.

Any word on MEL-OOL?

No, only Sydney for now.

They've got specials on their website for MEL-OOL now from 28th Oct! Hooray!

They're via Sydney, not direct - but still, excellent prices!

ABOUT TIME TOO.I last did a visit to the Gold Coast in 2007 but flew in and out of Brisbane Qantas.And as Good as those commutes were on a Transfer Coach I find it time consuming

oh look Qantas reacting to competition, surprise surprise. If only they proactively improved services for their customers. Sorry QF you've lost me. Going to have to do better than that!

Welcome back, Qantas... as nice as it is to have you here, it's hard to believe you'd have returned to the Gold Coast without Virgin's influence, so that's a big +1 for the benefits of competition!

It's about time, Qantas.  For the last five years I have travelled to BNE (one hour forty on the train) to take a flight that is shorter than the train ride.  And you are offering business class...thank you

The Gold Coast has an identity crisis.  Does it want to be the Hi-Ho Motel or Palazzo Versace? Kids for Schoolies or the high rollers for the Magic Millions?  If Qantas is finally returning to the GC, they need to look at installing a decent lounge and also air bridges.

Any idea if the newly-rebranded lounge will be moved airside instead of landside?

Dont be fooled for one minute that all of a sudden Qantas are returning for YOU the client. It's all about pitching for the preferred carrier for the Commonwealth games. Just when you were thinking it was being driven by the customers ......ahhh....no.

Qantas, you're only doing in response to Virgin and therefor for the wrong reason. We have long memories of when you dumped Gold Coast business's and expected they HAD to fly Jetstar. You won't get me back!

What actually drove them back WILL REMAIN unknown.It's not like we have a shortage of theme parks in the Asia/Pacific Region anymore what with Universal Studios in Singapore and Disneyland as well as Ocean Park in Hong Kong these days and with airfares pretty good value to either place You would be mad to go to the Gold Coast.

It's interesting that Qantas is positioning itself as the upmarket premium airline here, but if you compare their Flexi Fare to Jetstar's Starter Max (both regarded as full economy and 20 SCs, and  the usual choice of business travellers), the Qantas price starts at $169 against Jetstar's $209.

Its great to see our national airline finally listening to their customers and returning to the GC. I look forward to seeing the new lounge. This level of service to the GC has been lacking for many years. 

I would suggest the real reason for Qantas returning to the GC is in reality based on increased competition from Virgin for the business market.  Jetstar just doesn't cut it for business customers.

While youre at it Qantas, how about a return to some key destinations such as San Francisco?  I'd love to see a few 777-300 aircraft on that route, under the Qantas brand. 

The next place I would like to see them back is Bali.Not all of us can stomach Pacific Blue or Jetstar offerings or even fit in their seats.I remember my first and only visit to date to Bali in 2000,To This Day I got the better deal even if it was an older plane going over and a brand new one coming back from Sydney with connections to and from Adelaide than my fellow companions who did the same trip but with Garuda.