Australian Jetstar Adds New Routes and Perth Base

Qantas Airways' economical child company Jetstar is continuing to make waves in the Australian air travel industry with a new base in a key location that welcomes more flights to and from Asia. This strategic new move will certainly give travelers appealing options to fly across Southeast Asia on a budget.
 

A Perth-fact Strategy

Jetstar announced in a press release on Monday that the company will build a new pilot and aircraft base and an additional route that is considered its "biggest expansion ever".

Last month, Jetstar opened up two Perth routes that fly to and from both Singapore and Phuket, Thailand. With the unprecedented success these routes have received, Jetstar executives have made the call to announce a third route that will fly to and from Bangkok, starting on Friday, September 6.

Jetstar touts that with this new route to Bangkok, that over 300,000 seats among these three new destinations will be up for grabs each year for customers looking to travel. The press release also notes that flying to Singapore with Jetstar can be considered a low-cost stopover to get to other Asian nations such as Japan, the Philippines, and Malaysia.

The increase in business also calls for a new base for Jetstar crews to maintain aircraft, which has officially opened Monday. This new base is said to help alleviate the demands for more travel and opened routes between Australia and Asia. The facility houses four brand new Airbus A321Neos and can manage up to 60 pilots. 38 additional new A321Neos (in both the LR and XLR variety) are expected to join the fleet via this new base by 2029.
 

Perth Airport CEO Jason Waters chimed in, stating that the new Jetstar base will be great for the local economy as well as the airport's workforce. He adds “We look forward to working with the Jetstar team in making these routes successful”.

What This Means For Travelers

To coincide with this new direction, Jetstar has moved all domestic flights at Perth Airport from Terminal 3 to Terminal 2. As Terminal 1 is used to manage international flights, this makes it easier for travelers coming from Asia to get to another location within Australia, such as Sydney, by just moving from Terminal 1 to Terminal 2. Previously, travelers had to take a shuttle bus to connect to another Australian flight, as Terminal 3 is quite a lengthy distance away from Terminal 1.

As for Aussies that want to fly to Asia for a one-way trip, Jetstar allows many appealing fares from Perth. You can fly to Singapore for as low as AUD 159 per passenger. Flying to Bangkok can be as cheap as $199, while tickets to Phuket can be as low as $229. But of course, these fares only go as low if you book months in advance. In comparison, Qantas offers flights from Perth to Singapore for as low as $331 per passenger one-way.

Jetstar is sure to keep the ball rolling with these new connections that allow customers to fly internationally on a budget. With more routes opening up for customers, it sure will make a difference in the travel industry and sway some travelers away from flying with Virgin Australia and Qantas, even though the latter owns Jetstar.

But let us know your thoughts about these new Jetstar developments in the comments section below.