Believe it or not, South East Queensland is today five hours closer to Canada. A new direct international flight could boost tourism and economic relationships.

Bryce Heaton reports.

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The wheels of Air Canada flight AC035 touched down in Brisbane this morning, but this was no ordinary commercial shuttle.

A traditional welcoming ceremony marked the first direct daily flight between Brisbane and Vancouver.

Paul Maddison, Canadian High Commissioner: “A lot of Canadians fly in through Sydney, but they really want to come up to Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast and up into far north Queensland to Cairns and further so.”

The Boeing 787 Dreamliner will carry passengers in luxury and those on board the inaugural flight were excited about the new route.

Hon. Kate Jones, Qld Minister for Tourism: “The direct flight rather than a 30 hour odyssey is well looked forward to.”

Vox 1: “Fantastic because I live in Townsville so it’s really good for us.”

The Canadians brought their own snow globe.

Our Tourism Minister got into the spirit.

Hon. Kate Jones, Qld Minister for Tourism: “What’s so exciting for me is that we’re going to see an additional 180,000 people travelling between Vancouver and Brisbane.”

The daily direct flights from Canada to Brisbane are a boon for the Queensland economy, and Tourism Minister Kate Jones says they’ll inject an additional $56 million.

China Eastern Airlines also will begin daily direct flights from Brisbane to Shanghai in November.

Bryce Heaton, QUT News.