Jetstar Airways

Jetstar Airways

IATA JQ ICAO JST Callsign JETSTAR
Founded	2003
Hubs	Melbourne Airport
Secondary hubs	Brisbane Airport Sydney Airport Gold Coast Airport
Focus cities	Cairns Airport Darwin International Airport Hobart Airport Perth Airport Auckland Airport Newcastle Airport (Williamtown)
Frequent-flyer program	Qantas Frequent Flyer
Member lounge	Qantas Club
Fleet size	51[1] (+50 orders)
Destinations	30
Company slogan	Australia's #1 Low Fares Airline Low Fares, Good Times (Fly Away)
Parent company	Qantas
Headquarters	Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Key people	Bruce Buchanan (CEO)
Website	www.jetstar.com

Jetstar Airways is an Australian low-cost airline headquartered in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.^[2] It is a subsidiary of Qantas, created in response to the threat posed by low-cost airline Virgin Blue Airlines. The airline operates an extensive domestic network as well as regional and international services from its main base at Melbourne Airport,^[3] using a mixed fleet of narrow- and wide-body aircraft. Parent company Qantas also has stakes in sister companies Jetstar Asia Airways and Valuair in Singapore (via its stake in Orange Star); and Jetstar Pacific Airlines in Vietnam.

History

Jetstar Airbus A330-200 about to land at Sydney

The airline was established by Qantas in 2003 as a low-cost domestic subsidiary. Qantas had previously acquired Impulse Airlines and operated it under the QantasLink brand from 2001 onwards, but following the decision to launch a low-cost carrier, re-launched the airline under the Jetstar brand.^[3] Domestic passenger services began on 25 May 2004, soon after the sale of tickets for her inaugural flight in February 2004. International services to Christchurch, New Zealand, commenced on 1 December 2005. Although owned by Qantas, its management operates largely independent of Qantas through the company formerly known as Impulse Airlines - an airline acquired by Qantas on 20 November 2001.

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. Baggage conectivity was added as a service offering for domestic flights connecting with international flights.

Reserved seating is currently provided on all routes and on 4 October 2006, Jetstar became the first Australian airline to allow customers to select their seat upon booking.^[4]

The first flight of sister airline Jetstar Asia Airways took off from its Singapore hub to Hong Kong on 13 December 2004. This marked Qantas' entry into the Asian low-cost market and signified its intention to battle key competitor Singapore Airlines on its home ground. Qantas has a 42.5% stake in Jetstar Asia's ownership.

On 1 December 2003, when Qantas announced this new low-cost carrier there was a virtual airline named Jetstar International Airlines already in existence, complete with a web-site. As part of their startup promotion, Qantas sold 100,000 airline tickets for $29, and the virtual airline's web site was swamped with would-be customers, job-seekers, and prospective vendors. The virtual airline sued Qantas, claiming Copyright Infringement, Trademark Infringement, Illegal Cybersquatting, Conversion and Lanham Act Unfair Competition in United States District Court. Qantas settled out of court for an undisclosed amount.^[5]

On 1 December 2005, Jetstar commenced operations from Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and the Gold Coast to Christchurch in New Zealand. On 7 December 2005, it was announced that Jetstar would establish the world's first global low-cost airline. At the end of 2005, it was announced that Jetstar would fly to Perth, Western Australia, from Melbourne's Avalon Airport.

In July 2006, Jetstar and Jetstar Asia were brought together under the Jetstar brand.^[6] Online bookings for both carriers were integrated into Jetstar.com.

In July 2007, Qantas acquired a 18% stake in Vietnam's Pacific Airlines, to increase to 30% by 2010. The airline was relaunched on 23 May 2008 as Jetstar Pacific.

On 1 August 2008 Jetstar announced that it had signed an agreement with the Northern Territory Government to make Darwin International Airport an international hub with plans for seven aircraft to be based in Darwin. Under the agreement Jetstar would be required to be base three aircraft at Darwin by June 2009, with a further four by June 2012, with the Territory Government provide AU$5 million to set up the hub and a further AU$3 million for promotion of the new routes.^[7]

On 28 April 2009, Jetstar commenced daily direct services from Auckland to Gold Coast and Sydney. On 10 June the same year Jetstar commenced domestic New Zealand flights between Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and Queenstown. Jetstar replaced Jetconnect on these routes using Airbus A320 aircraft.

Destinations

A Jetstar Airbus A321-200 ready to take off from Runway 27 at Melbourne Airport

Possible future routes

Jetstar are investigating a number of new destinations, which include:

• Athens and Rome^[8]
• Milan and Munich ^[9]
• Brussels^[10]
• Coffs Harbour^[11]
• Dunedin, Hamilton, Invercargill, Napier, Palmerston North and Rotorua ^[12]
• Kuala Lumpur^[13]
• Nouméa

Recently, with the latest ordering of a fifth additional Airbus A330, there has been a greater impetus for the expansion to occur soon, particularly with Air Asia X taking market share on the low-cost Australia to Europe market.^[14] The action to implement these, or other similar routes are therefore more likely to occur in the business climate and with these action taken by the business. Munich, in Germany and India and China also seem to be on the cards.^[15][16] From December 2010, Jetstar will launch international flights from Queenstown for the first time to Gold Coast and Melbourne both twice weekly.^[17]

Fleet

Jetstar Airbus A320-232 VH-VQH has special decals to advertise the Kangaroos Australian Rugby League team and its participation in the 2008 world Cup

As of August 2010 51 aircraft are in the Jetstar fleet.

Marketing and sponsorship

The Gold Coast Titans Jetstar A320 VH-VQP

From 2004-2006, the airline's former mascot, Julie The Jetstar Girl was played by actress Magda Szubanski.

The advertising slogan of Jetstar is "All day every day low fares". In 2006, the jingle "Let's Fly Jetstar" and the use of Szubanski ceased and was replaced with "It's All About Choice / Fly Away" (later "Low Fares, Good Times")

In 2007, Jetstar won the low-cost carrier section of the Skytrax World Airline Awards.^[21]

Jetstar Airways is the major sponsor of the National Rugby League team, the Gold Coast Titans.^[22]

In July 2008 Jetstar Airways was named the Official Airline of the Australian national rugby league team. One of its A320s was decorated with special decals to advertise the relationship.^[23]

Jetstar sponsorship logos appears at the credits for Channel Seven game show Deal Or No Deal andNetwork Ten soap Neighbours under the banner of We choose to fly.... They use it for two of Channel Seven's programs Sunrise/Weekend Sunrise & The Morning Show, under the banner of Travel Partner....

In-flight service

On all domestic routes Jetstar has a buy on board single class service offering food and drinks for purchase.^[24]

On all A330 international routes, Jetstar offers a two-class service.

StarClass

Jetstar offers StarClass on its A330-200 aircraft. The StarClass cabin is fitted with 38 leather premium class seats in a 2-3-2 configuration, similar to Qantas domestic Business Class or Qantas international premium economy class. The service is inclusive of all meals and beverages, in-flight entertainment, International Qantas Club access where available, and includes an increased baggage allowance of 30 kg.

Economy Class

Jetstar offers either pre-purchased meals on board or buy on board service with food and beverages. Portable in-flight entertainment devices are available for an extra fee.

Controversies

On 14 November 2009, Jetstar passenger Paralympian Kurt Fearnley was involved in a well publicised confrontation with Jetstar. When asked to check-in his wheelchair and transfer to an attendant propelled chair at check-in, rather than the preferred practice of transferring only at the gate, Fearnley refused to give up his independence and crawled through the terminal instead.^[25]

Again in November 2009, Jetstar came under more scrutiny after they refused to book a guide dog of a visually impaired couple. Jetstar later apologised for the incident and blamed it on a break down in communications.^[26]

Incidents

• On 10 June 2009, Jetstar Flight 20 flying from Kansai International Airport to Gold Coast Airport experienced a fire in the cockpit apparently caused by a fault in the windshield electric heating system. The fire was extinguished by the pilots who subsequently diverted the plane to Guam International Airport. None of the 203 passengers and crew on board were harmed in the incident. Jetstar and the Australian Transport Safety Bureau are currently examining the full cause of the fire.^[27]

Television series

The Nine Network began airing the series Going Places from October 2007. The eight-part series depicted the everyday lives of selected members of Jetstar's Sydney and Melbourne airport staff. The show followed the dramas of the check-in staff, mid-flight staff, and the induction program for new international recruits.

References

External links

• Jetstar Airways official website
• Jetstar magazine
• Qantas Airways/ Qantas Group
• Jetstar Airways Mobile site

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