Jetstar penetrates the Asian market
Jetstar Airlines will seek an expansion in the Asian market by offering long-overhaul flights out of Singapore to Australia, North Asia, and in European countries starting this year.
Bruce Buchanan, chief executive of Jetstar, confirmed on Thursday the additional long-haul flights from Singapore will increase about two-thirds of the airline's revenue from international flights.
Qantas Airlines recently operates long-haul flights from Australia to Bali, Osaka, Tokyo, Honolulu, Bangkok and Phuket except for Singapore. Only China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Vientam, and Thailand were lucky enough to receive long-haul flights from Qantas.
"We're already the largest low-cost carrier in Asia by revenue, and we continue to grow by 30 per cent every year," Mr Buchanan said.
Jetstar's flights from Singapore will be using two Airbus A330-200 aircraft, which will be delivered in December to January. As of press time, there has been no word on the new destinations.
Mr. Buchanan said additional destination will be announced once it acquires two more A330 aircrafts by next year. A new Boeing 787 will be added to further expand its passenger capacity.
The airlines is currently in negotiations with several airports and hopes to launch commercial pre-flight sales to two new destinations shortly.
The expected long-haul flights out of Singapore is expected to generate 200 aviation jobs across Jetstar's Asian operations.
Employment will include pilots, cabin crew, engineers, and customer service staff.
Jetstar owns 40 per cent of its Singapore division, which is the Jetstar Asia/Valuair.