Jetstar - Low Cost Flights Australia, Asia
| Jetstar is a low-cost airline based in Australia and flying to both Australian domestic and international destinations. It was originally set up in 2003 by Qantas. It also has separate Asian entities Jetstar Asia based in Singapore and Jetstar Pacific in Vietnam. It plans flights to Europe sometime in the near future... |
Jetstar flies under the JQ code and has main Australian hub airports at Melbourne Tullamarine, Sydney, Perth and Brisbane - they serve the major coastal destinations in Australia. Parent company Qantas (QF) remains a "full-service" carrier, however it does sell Jetstar tickets on its own site. Qantas is undergoing a strategic review of its network (generally domestic is profitable, international less so) and it is likely some QF flights could be replaced by Jetstar JQ services.
Jetstar also flies trans-Tasman flights to New Zealand and operates a number of domestic kiwi routes. Its other international services from Australia include flights to Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, Japan, Fiji, Philippines and Hawaii in US.
Jetstar Asia (3K) out of Singapore has a decent network of flights throughout the region with destinations that include Manila, Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, Ho Chi Minh and Bangkok. It also operates Valuair (VF) flights to Indonesia. A Singapore-Melbourne service started in December 2010 and a Singapore-Auckland flight was added in March 2011.
Jetstar Pacific Airlines (BL) has domestic services between Vietnam's main hubs using leased Boeing 737s, although they have Airbus A320s on order. Jetstar Asia uses A320s whilst Jetstar Australia utilises A320s and A321s on domestic services. These are all single economy cabin only.
For longer international services A330-200s are used - configured to 303 seats which include 265 Economy passengers (31" pitch) and 38 Business passengers (2-3-2 config, effectively leather covered Qantas domestic business seats with 38" pitch).
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$ 30-55 on Sydney-Singapore). After this passengers can choose to add a bundle: "Plus" which includes standard assigned seat, priority boarding, hot meal and earns 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.
International fares from Australia to Asia start at around AU$800 to AU$1,000 return. Business is priced from approximately AU$1,400 return, and Business Max from AU$2,500 return.
In the future Jetstar plans to fly from Australia to various destinations in Europe and west-coast USA - and compete head-on with Air Asia X. They have an order for 15 new generation Boeing 787s - however with the economic crisis, high oil prices and delays in the delivery of the 787 it could be some time before we see a significant long-haul Jetstar network.
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