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J etstar is a low-cost airline based in Australia, New Zealand and Asia and serves destinations around the Asia-Pacific region. Jetstar Australia was originally set up by the Qantas Group back in 2003....

Let's take a look at the background of the various Jetstar Group airlines:

Jetstar Airways	Background/Key Facts
Established	2003
Parent Company	Qantas Airways Ltd (ASX: QAN)
First Route	Newcastle (NTL) - Melbourne (MEL) on 25th May 2004
IATA Flight Code	JQ
Main Base	Melbourne (MEL)
Aircraft Fleet	40 Airbus A320-200s 6 Airbus A321-200s 7 Airbus A330-200s
Aircraft Orders	A320s/321s - further deliveries 15 Boeing 787-8s (from mid-2013) will replace the A330s
Passenger Numbers (2011)	9.753 million (domestic) 4.096 million (international) 13.849 million (total)
Load Factor (2011)	79.8% (domestic) 76.4% (international)
Revenue (2011)	AUD2,613million
EBIT (2011)	AUD169million
Loyalty Program	Qantas Frequent Flyer

Jetstar Asia	Background/Key Facts
Established	2004
Shareholders	Qantas 49% / Temasek Holdings 19% / Others 32%
First Route	Singapore (SIN) - Hong Kong (HKG) on 13th December 2004
IATA Flight Code	3K
Main Base	Singapore (SIN)
Aircraft Fleet	16 Airbus A320-200s 2 Airbus A330-200s
Passenger Numbers (2011)	2.700 million
Load Factor (2011)	76.7%
Notes	Jetstar Asia also owns the small low-cost carrier Valuair (VF) which serves Indonesian destinations from SIN with 2 Airbus A320s.

Jetstar Pacific	Background/Key Facts
Established	2007 (from takeover of Pacific Airlines, established in 1991)
Shareholders	Qantas 30% / Vietnam Airlines 69.9%
IATA Flight Code	BL
Main Base	Ho Chi Minh City (SGN)
Aircraft Fleet	5 Boeing B737-400s (leased) 2 Airbus A320-200s
Aircraft Orders	Boeing 737s will be replaced, long term fleet plan of 15 A320s

Jetstar Japan	Background/Key Facts
Established	2011
Shareholders	Qantas / Japan Airlines / Mitsubishi Corporation / Century Tokyo Leasing Corporation
First Route	To be announced, scheduled for mid 2012
IATA Flight Code	--
Main Base	Tokyo Narita Airport (NRT)
Aircraft Fleet	3 Airbus A320-200s
Aircraft Orders	Long term fleet plan of 24 A320s

Jetstar Hong Kong	Background/Key Facts
Established	2012
Shareholders	Qantas / China Eastern Airlines
First Route	To be announced, scheduled 2013, subject to regulatory approval
IATA Flight Code	--
Main Base	Hong Kong (HKG)
Aircraft Fleet	3 Airbus A320-200s
Aircraft Orders	Long term fleet plan of 18 A320s by 2015

Jetstar Route Network - Jetstar has a comprehensive domestic route network in Australia serving the main coastal cities. It also offers domestic New Zealand services. International flights from Australia operate to New Zealand, Honolulu (Hawaii), Japan and south-east Asia. Jetstar Asia has a solid route network from Singapore around south-east Asia and also serves China and Japan. Its longest route of note is a Singapore-Auckland service.

Jetstar Pacific flies domestic Vietnamese routes serving 7 cities. Jetstar Japan will fly to Tokyo, Osaka, Sapporo, Fukuoka and Okinawa.

Jetstar Seating Configuration - Jetstar's A320 and A321s are configured to economy seating only - slimline leather seats with pitch of 30".

For longer international services A330-200s are used - configured to either 303 or 310 seats which include 265/268 Economy passengers (31" pitch, 2-4-2 config) and 38/42 Business passengers (2-3-2 config, effectively leather covered Qantas domestic business seats with 38" pitch).

Jetstar airfares - The basic economy no-frills fare is called "Starter" - passengers can decide to purchase checked luggage (from 15kg to 40kg, in 5kg increments - this costs AU$30-70 on Melbourne-Singapore). After this passengers can choose to add a bundle: "Plus" which includes standard assigned seat, priority boarding, hot meal and earns Qantas Frequent Flyer (QFF) points and status credits; or the more expensive "Max" which is a fully flexible and refundable fare and also allows seat assignments on extra legroom seats.

Business passengers get a 30kg checked luggage allowance, a personal entertainment system and flexible tickets. Adding the "Business Max" bundle upgrades your ticket to fully refundable, lounge access and QFF points and status credits at business rates.

Domestic Australian fares are priced competitively, especially if you don't check luggage or require any extra bundles.

International fares from Australia to Asia start at around AU$570 return plus add around AU$160 for baggage and Plus bundle. The basic Business fare is priced from approximately AU$1,400 return - add another AU$400 for the Business Max bundle.

Jetstar Credit Cards - Jetstar offers a Jetstar Mastercard and Platinum Mastercard which can earn Jetstar credit or Qantas Frequent Flyer points. More info here: Jetstar Credit Cards.

Jetstar also offers a pre-paid Mastercard called the Jetstar Travel Card which can be loaded with multiple currencies.

Jetstar competitors - AirAsia and mid-haul arm AirAsia X are based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. AirAsia has an extensive south-east Asian route network, whilst AirAsia X focusses on flights from Kuala Lumpur (KUL) to various cities in Australia, China and the region. AirAsia X recently stopped flights from KUL to Europe and New Zealand which were unprofitable. We shall see in the future whether Jetstar is willing to operate flights to Europe from Singapore with the B787.

Singapore Airlines is setting up a budget mid-haul/long-haul airline called Scoot, targeting Australia and China using Boeing 777s. The first route will be Singapore-Sydney followed by Singapore-Gold Coast.

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