Jetstar Airways

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For the aircraft, see Lockheed JetStar. For the Asian sister airline, see Jetstar Asia Airways.
Jetstar Airways
IATA
JQ
ICAO
JST
Callsign
Jetstar
Founded 2004
Frequent flyer program Qantas Frequent Flyer
Member lounge Qantas Club
Fleet size 25
Destinations 30
Parent company Qantas Airways Ltd
Headquarters Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Key people Alan Joyce(CEO)
Website: http://www.jetstar.com

Jetstar Airways is an Australian domestic and international low-cost airline which launched in 2004. Jetstar is a subsidiary of Qantas Airways, created in response to the threat posed by low-cost airline Virgin Blue. Although owned by Qantas, its management operates largely independently of Qantas through the company formerly known as Impulse Airlines - an airline acquired by Qantas on 20 November 2001.

Contents

[edit] Operations

Jetstar's domestic passenger services began on 25 May 2004, after it commenced selling tickets in February 2004. International service to Christchurch, New Zealand, commenced on 1 December 2005.

Despite its low-cost ethos, Jetstar currently offers a limited number of connecting services without through baggage checking - though this has changed since International flights commenced in November 2006 when baggage connectivity and connecting services were added as a service offering for Domestic flights connecting with Intnernational flights only. Reserved seating is currently provided on all routes and from 4 October 2006 Jetstar became the first Australian airline to allow customers to select their seat when booking.[1]

The launch fleet of Boeing 717s with 125 seats has been replaced with new Airbus A320s, fitted with 177 leather seats. This has since been augmented with the addition of Airbus A330s, operating on International services.

Unlike other scheduled airlines, Jetstar's services from Melbourne to Adelaide, Brisbane, Sydney and Perth (and return) operate from Avalon Airport, near Geelong. All other Melbourne services use Melbourne Airport, Tullamarine. Qantas has a large maintenance facility at Avalon.

On December 1 2005, Jetstar commenced operations from 4 Australian cities Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and the Gold Coast to Christchurch in New Zealand.

On December 7 2005 it was announced that Jetstar would establish the world's first global low cost airline flying initially to destinations within 10 hours of Australia but later to operate to Europe and the Americas.

On 13 December 2004, the first flight of sister airline Jetstar Asia Airways took off from its Singapore hub to Hong Kong, marking Qantas' entry into the Asian low-cost market, and its intentions in battling key competitor Singapore Airlines at its home ground. Note that Qantas has only a 49% stake in Jetstar Asia's ownership. (See Jetstar Asia Airways)

At the end of 2005, it was announced that Jetstar would fly to Perth, Western Australia, from Melbourne's Avalon Airport.

[edit] Services

Until recently Qantas and Jetstar did not share any routes, to avoid internal competition. However, with the addition of Adelaide, Perth, Townsville and Darwin services, this is no longer the case. Due to the different markets each attracts, this seems to have a limited effect on either of the airlines. Despite this, Jetstar does not operate Australia's second busiest route, Sydney to Brisbane. Flights from Melbourne to Sydney, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth depart from Avalon Airport, as previously mentioned, because these routes are some of the key Qantas routes. The exceptions to this rule of no competition are flights to Tasmania and Gold Coast, routes on which Qantas operates a few services for those who would prefer travelling on the full service parent Qantas, or customers wishing to travel Business Class.

In July 2006, Jetstar and Jetstar Asia were brought together under the Jetstar brand.[2] Jetstar, Jetstar Asia Airways and Valuair customers now make all online bookings through Jetstar.com.

The advertising slogan of Jetstar is "All day every day low fares". Two additional slogans have recently been used in its marketing campaigns; "Let's Fly Jetstar" (2004-2006) & "It's All About Choice" (2006-present)

Destinations served are:
Operated by Jetstar International [3] From Australia To

[edit] Asia

[edit] North America

[edit] Oceania

Operated by Jetstar

For an indication of routes served, see http://www.jetstar.com.au/routeMap/index.html

[edit] Fleet

Jetstar will receive Boeing 787-8s beginning in 2008.
Jetstar will receive Boeing 787-8s beginning in 2008.

The Jetstar Airways fleet consists of the following aircraft (at March 2007):

Aircraft # Seats Notes
Airbus A320-232 23 177 (VH-JQG/L/X and VH-VQG to VH-VQZ)
Airbus A330-201 4 (2 on order) 303 First four aircraft for Jetstar International (VH-EBA to VH-EBD) have been transferred from Qantas. VH-EBE and VH-EBF planned for delivery from Airbus in mid 2007.
Boeing 787-8 (10 on order) Planned for delivery in 2008.

As of November 2006, Jetstar's average fleet age is 2.1 years.

[edit] Footnotes

  1. ^ Jetstar Airways (19 June 2006). Jetstar to move to allocated seating. Press release.
  2. ^ Jetstar Airways (26 July 2006). Jetstar move to single brand and distribution approach to support growth in Asia. Press release.
  3. ^ Jetstar Airways (26 July 2006). Jetstar announces International fares and schedules. Press release.

[edit] External links