This week saw Virgin Australia announce that it will offer business class seats to and from Gold Coast airport.

The news came via marketing director and chief executive John Borghetti, who said that in addition to becoming the only airline to offer business class seats to the airport in Coolangatta that Virgin would also be opening a premium lounge at the facility.

The move is a part of the carrier’s efforts to poach business travellers from rival Qantas, which discontinued business class services to Gold Coast seven years ago when its low-cost Jetstar brand assumed all operations from the airport, despite frequent conventions held in the area.

On Monday, Mr Borghetti said that Gold Coast was a key destination for his airline and that business class services to the airport would launch in the last quarter of this year. He added that the lounge would be opening in the first half of 2012.

Virgin’s new business class cabins feature luxurious leather seats and chic design and lighting. All of the company’s Airbus A330s have already been updated for business travellers whilst the updates on the its Boeing 737s will be finished by the last quarter of 2011, Borghetti said.