Jet Star Airlines

  About Jetstar Airways

Jetstar Airways Pvt Ltd., which operates under the name Jetstar, is a low-cost carrier airline from Australia. The airline has its headquarters in Melbourne. It is a subsidiary of Qantas and is wholly owned by its parent company. The airline was created to bring forth competition to Virgin Australia. Jetstar is associated with Qantas as its brand strategy to cater to the low-cost market while Qantas Airways offers premium full-service to medium/long haul destinations. It has been recorded that Jetstar caters to about 8.5 per cent of all passengers that travel in and out of Australia. The airline has a strong domestic route connectivity and offers services to a few international routes as well. The airline's main hub is at Melbourne Airport or colloquially referred to as Tullamarine Airport. It consists of a mixed fleet that ranges from aircraft such as Airbus A320 and even a Boeing 787 Dreamliner. Jetstar's biggest rival in the low-cost carrier business is Virgin Australia's subsidiary, Tigerair Australia. Although the airline commenced independently, it became a subsidiary of Virgin Australia Holdings and has since posed a threat to Jetstar.

Qantas is related top Jetstar Airways through Jetstar Group (the airline company owns 100 per cent shares in Jetstar Group) and also has stakes in Jetstar's sister airlines such as Jetstar Japan, Jetstar Asia Airways and Jetstar Pacific Airlines. The airline came into existence in 2003 to cater as Qantas' low-cost domestic subsidiary. Operations and services of Jetstar commenced in 2004, following the ticket sales which took place for its inaugural flight. International services for Jetstar commenced in 2005 with the first jet plane flying to Christchurch, New Zealand. Despite being owned by Qantas, much of Jetstar's management and operations are handled by the company that was formerly known as Impulse Airlines. The airline's headquarters were initially located near Avalon Airport near Melbourne. In fact, the first few flights also operated from Avalon Airports in 2004. However, Jetstar shifted all its operations to a registered office in Melbourne CBD. Although Jetstar caters to a low-cost ethos, it also provides a limited number of connecting services that do not require baggage checking. The same rule has been revised with respect to international flights.

Starting from 2006, Jetstar became the first Australian airline to enable reserved seating option. While booking tickets, passengers have the choice to select a seat as well. Jetstar's sister concern Jetstar Asia also commenced flight operations in 2004 to cater to the Asian market. Meanwhile, in 2008, Jetstar signed an agreement to make Darwin International Airport in the Northern Territory as its international hub. Further, on the same, the airline also announced that it would have Darwin as the base for seven of its aircraft. Following this move, Jetstar also added a few more domestic routes to its list with a view to promoting its alliance with Darwin. Much of the international routes catering to Asian destinations were chartered from Darwin Airport. In 2009, the airline announced direct non-stop flight services from Auckland - Gold Coast - Sydney route. They also commenced domestic services of New Zealand flights to operate between Auckland, Christchurch, Wellington and Queenstown. These routes were later taken over by Qantas' subsidiary Jetconnect. As of 2019, Jetstar ceased domestic and regional services in New Zealand.

Fleet size of Jetstar

As of 2019, Jetstar Airways' fleet comprises 71 aircraft that are in service while an order for 18 aircraft has been placed. The current fleet accommodates 52 Airbus A320-200s, eight Airbus A321-200s and 11 Boeing 787-8s. Qantas had placed an order for 110 Airbus A320s in 2011 with 11 of the aircraft allocated to cater to Qantas Group's new premium airline that serves Asia. Ninety-nine of the remaining aircraft were supposed to be divided among the various subsidiaries of Jetstar-branded airlines, including the Jetstar Hong Kong. The order also included 32 A320ceos and 78 A320neos along with scope to rope in and convert some A321s too. By 2014, Qantas made another order consisting of 21 A320neos which rounded the order total to 99. A handful of A320neo orders were converted to A321neos. Meanwhile, 54 A320 neos and 45 A321neos were orders for 2017. In 2018, the airline converted eighteen of the orders to A321LRs to enable Jetstar Airways to expand its Boeing 787s onto newer routes. At the Paris Air Show in 2019, the Qantas Group announced that it had converted 26 A321neo orders to A321XLR and the other 10 A321neos to A321LR. Additionally, 10 A321XLRs were also ordered. With a massive fleet, Qantas is yet to announce how they plan to allocate aircraft to its Jetstar subsidiaries.

Baggage allowance

Jetstar's baggage allowance is quite straightforward and with limited flexibility. For checked baggage, Jetstar allows weight that could go up to 32 kg per piece of baggage. Beyond this, the airline allows the baggage weight purchase of up to 40 kg. It is essential for passengers to adhere to these rules and protocols as the airline will reject the item of baggage or charge an exorbitant amount for the same. In fact, if passengers request for a purchase of extra baggage allowance, Jetstar will add some huge tariffs as it is last minute. Hence, the best thing to do would be to purchase extra baggage allowance while booking a Jetstar flight. As for carry-on baggage, the weight should not exceed 7 kg. The airline allows two pieces of baggage to be carried onboard. The extension of 2 pieces of baggage weighing 7 kg each is subject to availability. In case the passenger books a cheap flight, the baggage allowance would be minimal. Similarly, as the prices of the ticket increase, the baggage allowance on Jetstar would also increase for the passenger. Carry-on bags are monitored at the airport as the airline's security is quite strong.

In-flight services

Jetstar's in-flight services are known to be the best. The plush seats on the Jetstar aircraft make for a great experience. Not to mention how the airline further brings more panache to the table by offering comfort kits, which can be purchased. These kits have eye masks, earplugs, hand cream, toothpaste and toothbrush, and a few other toiletries. Part of Jetstar's phenomenal in-flight services also includes the delicious spread of in-flight meals that they offer. They come with great entertainment content that can be found in the systems that have been installed for all seats and passengers.

Popular routes and top cities for Jetstar

As of 2020, Jetstar has managed to cultivate quite a phenomenal domestic route connectivity with all the territory in Australia. The airline has about 19 domestic destinations that it caters to and has added 15 international destinations across nine countries in Asia, Oceania and North America too. In Australia, Jetstar connects to cities such as Ayers Rock, Adelaide, Brisbane, Cairns, Darwin, Hamilton Island, Hobart, Melbourne, Newcastle, Perth, Sydney, Townsville, Gold Coast, Busselton and Mackay. Out of these, Adelaide, Perth and are focus cities while Brisbane, Cairns, Gold Coast and Melbourne are hubs. As for international cities, the airline has operations in Indonesia, Tokyo, Osaka, Christchurch, Auckland, Wellington, Seoul, Bangkok, Phuket, Honolulu and Ho Chi Minh City. Earlier, the airline also had operations to Singapore, Manila, Kuala Lumpur, Jakarta, Wuhan, Nagoya and more. However, they have terminated the services to these cities following some cost-cutting and other political concerns. Christchurch, Denpasar are two of the international focus cities for Jetstar.

Why travel from Jetstar?

Only recently has Jetstar managed to make an impression on travellers to become the most sought-after airline. With its ever-increasing domestic routes and international route expansions with connectivity to many destinations, it has earned a name for itself. Not only does it have brilliant connectivity in the Australian expanse but also offers services to prominent Asian, American and Oceania continents. Booking a Jetstar flight is quite simple and convenient as it can be done on their official website as well as on their mobile app. Their app has provisions for many more facilities ranging from web check-ins, learning about the flight status to checking for baggage allowance. The app allows passengers to check the weight of their baggage and be sure of whether they can carry the same in-flight. These facilities help passengers plan their trip better and make sure that all details regarding their flight are present in the palm. Passengers can further receive Jetstar's flight schedules on the app and website. Aside from these perks, the airline caters to some external deals too that would attract the travellers.

Some of the perks of Jetstar include hiring a car on the airline's website at a discounted price. Similarly, one can also book hotel accommodations on their app and official website and receive good services and benefits from the same. The airline also offers frequent flyer deals and gift vouchers on select brands that can be availed by the passenger. Their frequent flyer programmes enable discounts on Jetstar flight bookings too. With so many in-flight services and external perks that the airline has to offer, it easily becomes one of the suitable choices to make.