Jetstar Airways

IATA JQ ICAO JST Callsign JETSTAR
Founded	2003
Hubs	Melbourne Airport
Secondary hubs	Brisbane Airport Sydney Airport Gold Coast Airport Cairns Airport
Focus cities	Darwin International Airport Hobart Airport Perth Airport Auckland Airport Newcastle Airport (Williamtown)
Frequent-flyer program	Qantas Frequent Flyer
Airport lounge	Qantas Club, Gold Coast Lounge, Ākarana Lounge[1]
Fleet size	64
Destinations	34
Company slogan	Australia's #1 Low Fares Airline Low Fares, Good Times (Fly Away)
Parent company	Qantas Airways Ltd
Headquarters	Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Key people	Bruce Buchanan (CEO)
Revenue	A$2,197 million (2010)[2]
Operating income	A$131 m (2010)[2]
Website	jetstar.com

Jetstar Airways is an Australian low-cost airline headquartered in Melbourne, Australia.^[3][4] It is a subsidiary of Qantas, created in response to the threat posed by low-cost airline Virgin Blue (now known as Virgin Australia). The airline operates an extensive domestic network as well as regional and international services from its main base at Melbourne Airport,^[5] using a mixed fleet of Airbus A320 family and Airbus A330 aircraft.

Parent company Qantas also has stakes in sister companies Jetstar Asia Airways and Valuair in Singapore, Jetstar Pacific Airlines in Vietnam and new upcoming carriers in Asia Jetstar Japan and Jetstar Hong Kong. Jetstar shares its parent's strong competition with Australia's biggest low-cost carrier Virgin Australia. Both Tiger Airways Singapore and Tiger Airways Australia are also major competitors to Jetstar in the low-cost market.

History[link]

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.^[5] 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.

Originally the airline was headquartered on the grounds of Avalon Airport near Melbourne, and started flying out of Avalon Airport in mid 2004,^[6][7][8] but has since relocated its registered office to the Melbourne CBD.^[9]

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 connectivity 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.^[10]

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.

Jetstar Airbus A330-200 about to land at Sydney

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 Avalon Airport.

In July 2006, Jetstar and Jetstar Asia were brought together under the Jetstar brand.^[11] 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 base three aircraft at Darwin by June 2009, with a further four by June 2012, with the Territory Government to provide A$5 million to set up the hub and a further A$3 million for promotion of the new routes.^[12]

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.

From 1 February 2011, Jetstar started its co-operation with the oneworld alliance, allowing people booking an itinerary with a full oneworld member to include a Jetstar flight in the itinerary. However, the flight must be sold via Jetstar's corporate parent Qantas, under a QF flight number.^[13]

In August 2011 Jetstar's parent Qantas announced that it will set up a new airline to be called Jetstar Japan, a joint venture of Jetstar, Japan Airlines, and Mitsubishi. The airline was expected to start operating in December 2012,^[14] but now plans to launch ahead of schedule on 3 July 2012.^[15]

In March 2012 another Asian Jetstar branded airline was announced, Jetstar Hong Kong, a strategic partnership between the Qantas Group and China Eastern Airlines, which is expected to commence operations in 2013.^[16]

Destinations[link]

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

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

Fleet[link]

As of May 2012, the Jetstar Airways fleet consists of the following aircraft:^[17]

Jetstar previously operated Boeing 717s, which are now in service with Qantaslink. In October 2011 Qantas announced a 110-aircraft A320 order for its Jetstar-branded airlines and its new full-service Asian-based airline, including 78 A320neos. 99 will be for Jetstar Airways, Jetstar Asia and Jetstar Pacific; and to establish the new airline Jetstar Japan. The remaining 11 will be used to establish the proposed new premium Asian airline.^[18]

Marketing and sponsorship[link]

The Gold Coast Titans Jetstar A320 VH-VQP

From 2004 to 2006 the airline's 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").

Jetstar Airways is the major sponsor of the National Rugby League team, the Gold Coast Titans.^[23] 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.^[24]

In-flight service[link]

On all domestic routes Jetstar has a buy on board single class service offering food and drinks for purchase.^[25]

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

Business Class

Jetstar offers Business Class on its A330-200 aircraft. The Business Class cabin is fitted with 38 or 42 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, and includes an increased baggage allowance of 30 kg. Business Max fares also include Qantas Club lounge access where available, and earn Qantas Frequent Flyer points.^[26]

Economy Class

Jetstar offers either pre-purchased meals on board or buy on board service with food and beverages.

In-flight entertainment[link]

In November 2011 Jetstar became the first airline to offer passengers iPads provided by bluebox avionics for use as in-flight entertainment devices. The units, which are pre-loaded with movies, games and magazines, are provided on flights over two hours duration and are available for a fee in Economy Class but are complimentary in the international Business Class cabin, although some aircraft have seat back entertainment screens.^[27]

Awards[link]

• Skytrax - Best Low-Cost Airline - Australia / Pacific region 2007, 2009^[28] & 2011^[29]
• Skytrax - Best Low-Cost Airline - Worldwide (2007)

Controversies[link]

An editor has expressed a concern that this section lends undue weight to certain ideas, incidents, controversies or matters relative to the article subject as a whole. Please help to create a more balanced presentation. Discuss and resolve this issue before removing this message. (January 2012)

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.^[30]

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.^[31]

Jetstar has been criticised by the union representing its pilots for its move to hire foreign cabin crew and pilots and place them on Australian-registered aircraft. The crews would be paid less and have worse working conditions than their Australian counterparts. The foreign crews would not have working visas in Australia even though they will be working on board Australian-registered aircraft.^[32]

Incidents[link]

On 10 June 2009, an Airbus A330-200 operating Jetstar Flight 20 flying from Kansai International Airport to Gold Coast Airport had a fire in the cockpit, which was extinguished by the pilots who subsequently diverted the aircraft to Guam International Airport. None of the 203 passengers and crew on board were injured and the aircraft landed safely. An investigation by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau found that the fire was caused by the use of a particular sealant within the electrical connection of the windshield heating system, which caused unintended electrical heating during normal windshield heating operation. This subsequently led to overheating causing a localised fire due to thermal breakdown of the sealant.^[33] Following the incident, other cases of windshield overheating were reported on Airbus A320 and A330 aircraft, leading Airbus to identify all 1,500 windshields produced using the particular sealant. Due to limited compliance by airlines of the replacement recommendation, the European Aviation Safety Agency is considering the implementation of an airworthiness directive requiring European operators of applicable Airbus aircraft to comply with the Airbus windshield replacement program.^[34]

Television series[link]

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 Melbourne airport staff. The show followed the dramas of the check-in staff, mid-flight staff, and the induction program for new international recruits.

See also[link]

	Australia portal
	Companies portal
	Aviation portal

• Jetstar Asia Airways
• Jetstar Hong Kong
• Jetstar Japan
• Jetstar Pacific Airlines

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Jetstar

• Official website
• Jetstar Airways mobile website
• Jetstar Magazine

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