Cairns to Sunshine Coast runs about 1 times a day, with the first departure around 06:11 and the last around 06:11. One passenger pays between €118.14 and €142.33, every fee included, depending on the operator and the way you travel. The fastest door to door is 5h 19m over 1,358 km, on services run by 1 operator across 1 mode.
What one seat costs
The spread between the cheapest and dearest typical fare on this corridor, across 1 operator and 1 way of making the journey. The operator sets the price on the day.
Typical fares
€118.14 to €142.33
- 204%Moves across the booking window
When it runs, leaving Cairns
No operator has filed a timetable for this direction yet, so the first and last departure below follow the pattern of the corridor. Read them as the shape of the service day rather than as times to turn up for.
- 06:11First departure
- 06:11Last departure
- 1Services per day
- 100%Run direct
Fares by date
What this journey usually costs, by departure date. It shows which days run dearer.
Typical fares
- about €303.39Mon14
- about €203.69Tue15
- about €239.68Wed16
- about €255.54Thu17
- about €231.42Fri18
- about €239.68Sat19
- about €198.97Sun20
- about €155.90Mon21
- about €135.09Tue22
- about €142.33Wed23
- about €193.66Thu24
- about €175.79Fri25
- about €187.17Sat26
- about €186.79Sun27
- about €122.99Mon28
- about €118.14Tue29
- about €140.59Wed30
- about €164.79Thu1
- about €138.20Fri2
- about €130.14Sat3
- about €121.68Sun4
Based on what this route has cost recently. The operator sets the price on the day, and the live fare is confirmed when you book.
The flight gets you into Sunshine Coast. It does not get you a bed, and neither do we.
A room in Sunshine Coast for the night the flight gets in
Sort by distance from Eudlo railway station and you can see which places are ten minutes on foot and which are not.
Search Sunshine Coast on AgodaOr compare on Booking.com
Partner links. We do not sell accommodation. We earn a commission when a booking completes, and it never changes what you pay.
When to book Cairns to Sunshine Coast
The same search run across the whole booking window, so the shape of the curve is visible rather than described.
- €134.0790 days
- €119.6960 days
- €106.9345 days
- €99.8930 days
- €121.6821 days
- €186.7914 days
- €198.977 days
- €239.683 days
- €303.391 days
- Cheapest lead time
- Fares bottom out around 30 days ahead, at €99.89.
- How much it moves
- The gap between the cheapest and dearest lead time is 204 percent. The dearest point is €303.39, 1 days out.
- What that means
- Today sits inside the cheap window, which closes about 30 days before departure. Waiting from here has usually cost money on this corridor rather than saved it.
Book now Fares on this route are lowest around 30 days ahead. You are inside that window.
This corridor, specifically
Facts that apply to Cairns to Sunshine Coast and to no other route on the site.
Clocks
Both ends keep the same time, so the arrival is the departure plus the journey.
The shape of it
1,358 km
1,319 km as the crow flies, 3% further by the route services actually take. The bearing runs south-east.
Who lives at each end
153,075 → 398,840
Population at the departure city and at the arrival city, which is usually what decides how often anything runs.
How we know
Observed
Every operator on this corridor is named in a carrier record.
The route
What the journey actually looks like
Direct or connecting, how far the route really runs, and what happens when a connection is missed.
- Direct or connecting
- 20% of the services we sell on this corridor run through without a change. The remaining 80% involve one connection.
- How far it really runs
- The route covers 1,358 km against 1,319 km in a straight line, a detour of 3 percent. Track and road geometry account for the difference.
- Where the change is
- Connections are made at Mackay, Rockhampton, Gladstone, Townsville. The gap between arriving and leaving is 46 minutes, of which about 5 is walking.
- If the connection is missed
- The tightest connection we sell here has a 20 percent chance of not being made on the timetable alone. Part of this journey is a self transfer between separate tickets, so leave more time than the minimum and expect to check in again.
Who runs this route
The flight gets in hours before any room is ready. Holding a bag is not what we sell.
Left luggage near Eudlo railway station
Most of the points near Eudlo railway station open before the first train and shut after the last one.
Check Sunshine Coast on StasherOr try Bounce
Partner links. We do not run these networks. We earn a commission on a booking, and the price is the same as going direct.
Questions about Cairns to Sunshine Coast
The questions people actually ask about this journey, answered from the same prices and times the page above is built on rather than written once and left to go stale.
How long does it take to get from Cairns to Sunshine Coast?
The fastest journey from Cairns to Sunshine Coast takes 5h 19m door to door, of which 2h 9m is spent moving, on the flight. Most services take around 5h 26m, because that average includes slower stopping services and journeys with a connection. Times include reaching the terminal and leaving it at the far end.
How much does it cost to travel from Cairns to Sunshine Coast?
The cheapest fare from Cairns to Sunshine Coast is €118.14, as of 13 September 2026. A typical fare across the next three weeks is €187.17. Both figures are the total for one passenger, including taxes, supplier fees and our service fee, so nothing is added at checkout.
What is the cheapest way to get from Cairns to Sunshine Coast?
The cheapest way from Cairns to Sunshine Coast is by flight, at €142.33 for one passenger on 29 September 2026. That journey takes 5h 19m door to door. Cheaper is rarely faster on this corridor, and the comparison table on this page shows what each mode costs against what it saves.
When should I book Cairns to Sunshine Coast?
Fares from Cairns to Sunshine Coast bottom out around 30 days before departure, at €99.89. Across the whole booking window the gap between the cheapest and the dearest lead time is 204 percent, measured on 13 September 2026. Booking inside the last week has consistently cost more on this corridor.
Which day of the week is cheapest for Cairns to Sunshine Coast?
Tuesday is the cheapest day to depart from Cairns to Sunshine Coast, at €135.09. That is the median of 21 priced departure days across the next three weeks, as of 13 September 2026. Shifting a departure by one day is usually worth more than shifting the booking by one week.
Which month is cheapest for Cairns to Sunshine Coast?
January is the cheapest of the next 6 months to travel from Cairns to Sunshine Coast, at €105.16 for one passenger. Each month is priced on its fifteenth, so the comparison is like for like rather than a mix of weekends and midweek departures.
Who runs services from Cairns to Sunshine Coast?
1 operators sell services from Cairns to Sunshine Coast across 1 mode: Bonza Airlines. Journey times, fares and fare conditions differ between them, and the operator table on this page compares all of them on speed, flexibility and what is provided on board.
Is there a direct service from Cairns to Sunshine Coast?
20 percent of the services we sell from Cairns to Sunshine Coast are direct. The rest connect at Mackay, Rockhampton, Gladstone, Townsville, with about 46 minutes between the two services. Both legs are sold on one booking, so a missed connection is rebooked at no charge.
Which station or terminal do services from Cairns to Sunshine Coast use?
Services from Cairns to Sunshine Coast by flight leave from Cairns CNS and arrive at Sunshine Coast MCY. Allow about 3h 10m in total for reaching the departure terminal and leaving the arrival one, which is already included in every door to door time on this page.
Can I change or refund a ticket from Cairns to Sunshine Coast?
0 of the 1 operators we sell from Cairns to Sunshine Coast allow a change or a refund. A change on a changeable fare costs €5.00. The operator table on this page names which is which, and the condition is shown again before you pay.
Where these numbers come from
Places, coordinates, operators, which operator serves which pair, and every distance on this page are real and come from open data. Where a corridor has a filed timetable the departure times are real too, and ferry fares are the prices the operators publish themselves.
Observed service A carrier record shows this named operator serving this named pair, and we carry that through unchanged.
Where no operator publishes a fare for a corridor, the price here is our own estimate, worked out from the real distance and the real operator through a fare curve that follows lead time, day of the week and season. It tells you roughly what the journey costs. It is not a seat anyone has agreed to sell, and the payment step will not take it.
Defined in full at Door to door, Fares, The booking window, Carbon, Distances
- On this page
- Every figure above was computed for Cairns to Sunshine Coast on 13 September 2026: 1358 km of route against 1319 km in a straight line, 5 services a day, 1 operator a cheapest fare of €118.14, and 5h 19m door to door on the fastest mode. The return direction is computed separately and its numbers are not these numbers.
The flight is the simple part. What you do once you are in Sunshine Coast is somebody else's catalogue.
Day trips out of Sunshine Coast and across Australia
Day trips that leave Sunshine Coast in the morning and cover a good part of Australia by evening.
See Sunshine Coast on KlookOr browse GetYourGuide
Partner links. We do not sell tours or tickets. We earn a commission on a booking, and it never changes the price.
The two ends, compared
Cairns reaches 17 places in 6 countries on services we hold, over distances from 283 to 5,552 km. Sunshine Coast reaches 16 places in 2 countries, from 90 to 2,335 km.
Other ways to make this journey
Leaving Cairns
- 17Places you can leave for
- 6Countries
- 12Operators
Arriving in Sunshine Coast
Leaving Sunshine Coast
- 16Places you can leave for
- 2Countries
- 5Operators