Jetstar Upgrades Service and Adjusts Schedules

19th Dec 2013

Jetstar Airways, the low-cost subsidiary of Qantas, has unveiled new schedule on selected routes while, at the same time, upgrades its in-flight services on international routes.

First to be announced was the introduction of in-flight meals in both business class and economy classes and duty-free shopping services on its international routes.

The launching of duty-free shopping aboard international flights is an attempt to increase its income while improving its in-flight meals on board.

The budget carrier has been making profits as opposed to its mother unit, which has been piling up losses for quite some time already.

Starting March 31 next year, it will terminate some routes, most of them international in the hope of improving its revenue. The adjustment in flight schedule on international routes will see the termination of several routes out of Darwin, the capital of the Northern Territory.

Virtually all but one international route operating out of Darwin will be affected. These include flights to Manila, Singapore and Tokyo as well as its lone domestic route operating from its international terminal. As a result, Jetstar is left with only two international routes, between Darwin and Denpasar-Bali and between Darwin and Singapore.

Though it keeps most of its domestic routes, their flight frequencies are either reduced or increased. The Darwin-Brisbane service, for example, will be reduced to once-daily from 9 times per week while its Darwin-Cairns service will be increased to daily from the current thrice per week.

The Darwin-Singapore service will be downgraded to once daily from its current nine flights per week.

The termination of routes and the reduction of services out of Darwin International Airport will see the improvement of the airline's services between Melbourne and Adelaide as well as Sydney and Adelaide.

Darwin operations were considered as marginal, thus the adjustment of its services. The aircraft used in the terminated routes will be assigned to domestic routes where traffic volume is high.

The introduction of additional frequencies in its domestic operations will be supported by the acquisition of more aircraft, specifically, the new generation Boeing B787 or better known as Dreamliner.

As recent as October this year, Jetstar took delivery the first of the 13 Dreamliners it is planning to acquire until 2015. This new acquisition will gradually replace all the Airbus A330s in its fleet that mostly serve international routes.

Early next year, the low-cost airline is expected to have in its fleet three Dreamliners to support its route network expansion.

The airline CEO, Jayne Hrdlicka, has already indicated early this year that they will launch more international routes as soon as they take delivery of the Dreamliners. The future routes include Phuket in Thailand, Singapore, Hawaii and Japan.