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Tags: Tiger Airways / Australia Travel / Virgin Blue / Jetstar / Qantas / → All Tags

World's Third-Busiest Airline Route Gets More Crowded

We have to admit we were a little surprised to learn that the trip from Sydney to Melbourne ranks as the third-busiest travel route in the world, but if that's true, then it sure makes sense that low-cost carrier Tiger Airways has just thrown its two cents in the ring.

Since last Friday, Tiger has been running multiple flights between Sydney and Melbourne each day, with all-inclusive one-way fares starting from A$39 ($31) for the 90-minute flight. There's heavy competition from Jetstar, Virgin Blue and Qantas, but at the moment Tiger's prices are definitely amongst the lowest. If nothing else, this means that if you get Down Under, you will definitely be able to take in both Sydney and Melbourne without adding too much strain to the budget.

Related Stories:
· New Melbourne to Sydney Flight Route Takes Off [The Age]
· Tiger Airways Coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: 713 Avenue]

Tags: New Routes / Jetstar / Air New Zealand / Qantas / Pacific Blue / Airlines / → All Tags

Jetstar Wants to Conquer the Kiwis

Obviously it wasn't just a rumor that Qantas low-cost spin-off Jetstar was thinking of crashing into the New Zealand domestic flight market.

Now it's official. Starting from June 10, Jetstar will be making domestic flights between Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and Queenstown, while big bro Qantas will completely pull out of the market.

To kick off their Kiwi entry, Jetstar offered NZ$1 fares for two hours earlier this week; but regular flights will start from NZ$29 ($15). This means more competition for Pacific Blue and Air New Zealand; it looks like Jetstar will work out to be cheaper for flights most of the time, but without any comfortable extras.

Looks like Australia really does want to reach out to the Kiwis, contrary to what Bret and Jemaine think.

Related Stories:
· Jetstar Launches New Zealand Flights For $1 [The Age]
· New Zealand Travel: Jetstar Wants Its Piece of the Pie [Jaunted]
· Jetstar Coverage [Jaunted]

Tags: Jetstar / Airlines / Passengers / Seats / Seating / → All Tags

Jetstar Forces Overweight Passenger to Pay for Two Seats

Making overweight passengers pay more sure is a thorny issue, but Australian low-cost carrier Jetstar is taking it to the people, by making a 350-pound (160kg) passenger pay for two seats.

Whether you agree with this practice or not, Jetstar's made it worse for themselves by doing practically everything else wrong along the way. When passenger Samantha Scafe made the booking Jetstar told her she wouldn't have to pay for an extra seat but that suddenly changed when the flight departure time got closer.

Even worse, Jetstar managed to allocate Scafe two seats that were separated by the aisle--and they made the same error on her return trip. All that doesn't make Jetstar sound like the most customer-friendly airline. And Scafe's fighting them in the anti-discrimination court. We probably would be too.

Related Stories:
· Jetstar Charges Overweight Passenger Two Seats [news.com.au]
· Jetstar Gives Overweight Passenger Seats Either Side of Aisle [news.com.au]
· Fat Passengers Weighing Down Airlines [Jaunted]

Tags: Australia Travel / Jetstar / → All Tags

Jetstar's Weekend: When Delays Suddenly Look Good

Aussie low-cost carrier Jetstar had a bad weekend: A power surge at a telecommunications exchange meant that the airline's check-in system went down and delays were all around.

Worse, at some airports where there are strict night curfews, like Sydney, flights had to be canceled--about 10 departures in all.

Delays and cancellations are bad, but they're common enough that we're able to ignore them. But what we can't ignore is another Jetstar flight that had to turn back to Darwin after take-off because one of the passengers was bleeding. The cause of the bleeding? He'd attacked himself with a toothbrush.

We're not sure if turning his toothbrush into a weapon to use on himself was simply a demonstration against the Jetstarve flight quality but we should mention that mental health authorities are now taking care of him.

Related Stories:
· Jetstar Computer Glitch, Flights Canceled [news.com.au]
· Passenger Stabs Himself with Toothbrush [Northern Territory News]
· First Person Flight Review: Jetstar Melbourne to Perth [Jaunted]

[Photo: This Year's Love]

Tags: Jetstar / New Zealand Travel / Pacific Blue / Air New Zealand / Low Cost Carriers / LCCs / → All Tags

New Zealand Travel: Jetstar Wants Its Piece of the Pie

Qantas low-cost spin-off Jetstar has caught our attention again. Although we were quite distracted by its online rugby game, Jetstar has been busy elsewhere, starting rumors that they're going to gatecrash New Zealand and start up domestic flights across the country.

Locally-based airlines Air New Zealand and Pacific Blue aren't too keen on the idea. They're pretty sure there's only room for the two of them in the Kiwi domestic market and haven't enjoyed sharing a few routes with Qantas already.

When you stop to think about it, most tourists don't even need to fly around New Zealand anyway: Driving or camping are much more in. But since we still love that virtual rugby from Jetstar, we'll give them the benefit of the doubt for now.

Related Stories:
· Jetstar Could Enter (NZ) Domestic Market [Stuff.co.nz]
· Sports Travel: Rugby League, Virtual Style [Jaunted]
· Jetstar coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: monkeyc.net]

Tags: Games / Jetstar / Australia Travel / Sports Travel / → All Tags

Sports Travel: Rugby League, Virtual Style

Rugby fans would already know that the 2008 Rugby League World Cup will be held up and down the east coast of Australia between October 25 and November 22. It turns out that Qantas offshoot Jetstar is the official airline for the championships--which apparently aren't important enough to be sponsored by a non-budget airline)

The reason we're excited is nothing to do with the rugby itself, but with Jetstar's competition to win a holiday package to the grand final of the cup. They've put their Jetstar Rugby League Game online for us all to play, and yes, we just wasted some precious minutes getting slightly addicted.

In the game you have to use your arrow keys to help your little guy make a try. Starting in Sydney and (if successful) moving on to Melbourne, Rockhampton, Gold Coast and Brisbane, your job is to navigate past other rugby players, referees, sea gulls, ice cream sales people and in true Aussie style, a few (naked) streakers running across the field. After the game you can fill in a form to win the Jetstar contest, but to be perfectly honest we're more into this virtual rugby than the real life game.

Related Stories:
· Play Jetstar Rugby League [Official Site]
· Bruno the Bear Online Game [Jaunted]

Tags: Jetstar / Australia Travel / LCCs / Low Cost Carriers / Flight Reviews / → All Tags

First-Person Flight Review: Jetstar, Melbourne to Perth

Jaunted's Amanda Kendle just got back from Melbourne. This week: Read all about it.

I've always patriotically loved Qantas, so I was expecting more than I got when I decided to fly on their budget offshoot Jetstar. I should've known there was a reason my friends call it Jetstarve.

more ›

Tags: Jetstar / Asia Travel / Jetstar Asia / LCCs / Low Cost Carriers / → All Tags

Jetstar Asia Prepares to Leave the Nest

Low cost carrier Jetstar Asia has always been the little sister of Australia-based Jetstar--itself the child of Qantas. But now Jetstar Asia is preparing to cut the apron strings and step out into the budget airline world a little more independently.

At the same time, Jetstar Asia is ramping up its offerings. First up will be a route between Singapore and the newly vertical Cambodian capital Phnom Penh. There'll be daily flights, some of them also heading to Siem Reap, the stop for sightseeing target Angkor Wat.

Seems right that the slightly rebel child will head off to such a typical backpackers' destination.

Related Stories:
· Jetstar Asia [Official Site]
· Jetstar Asia Edges Away From Australian Parent [The Age]
· Jetstar coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: lecercle]

Tags: Jetstar / Asia Travel / Australia Travel / LCCs / Low Cost Carriers / Qantas / → All Tags

Jetstar's Over-Excited About New Indonesian Routes

Aussie LCC Jetstar is talking up its new flights into Indonesia, after a week of complaints about its decision to switch its Japanese route to land in the Gold Coast instead of Brisbane.

Trying to put that controversy behind them, Jetstar is crowing about new routes running from Perth to Bali and Perth to Jakarta. The Western Australia to Indonesia route is a pretty busy one, and getting tickets at the discount fare of A$179 ($168, one way) is a pretty good deal.

But Jetstar does seem to be forgetting one thing. The LCC's parent company Qantas already said it would spin these routes to Jetstar as part of a cost-cutting drive. So flying into Bali is really just a consolation prize, right?

Related Stories:
· Jetstar Launches Sale Fares for New Southeast Asia Flights [Peanuts]
· Qantas Cuts Flights and Sacks Staff [SMH]
· Japan Air Travel: More Flights, Different Flights [Jaunted]

[Photo: SHERWIN!]

Tags: Japan Travel / Jetstar / HND / NRT / OOL / Airports / → All Tags

Japan Air Travel: More Flights, Different Flights

Big things are happening in the realm of Japanese air travel. Bloomberg reported just this morning that Tokyo's Haneda airport--which dropped most of its international air traffic after Narita opened in 1978--will have twice as many flights as originally planned after a fourth runway opens in 2010.

As many as 30,000 slots per year will serve Asian cities like Seoul and Hong Kong, while another 30,000 will be allotted primarily for red-eye flights to Europe and other world destinations. Even better? The government is planning a high-speed rail link between Narita and Haneda, also to be completed by 2010, making Tokyo a powerhouse international hub.

Meanwhile, Australian LCC Jetstar is switching up its long-haul flight to and from Osaka: Brisbane is out and the Gold Coast (OOL) is in. According to the Sydney Morning Herald, Queensland's largest city just isn't doing it for Japanese tourists:

Strong trade industry support in Japan and Australia led to the change, Jetstar spokesman Simon Westaway said.

"The reason we've done this is very straightforward--it's market driven," he said. "Over 75% of the Japanese customers who fly on this route, their end destination is the Gold Coast."

Related Stories:
· Jetstar Announces Gold Coast-Japan Flights [SMH]
· Japan to Double Haneda Overseas Slots [Bloomberg]
· Japan Travel coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo of Haneda: kala-pattar]

Tags: 787 / Dreamliner / Jetstar / Virgin Atlantic / British Airways / → All Tags

Boeing Announces More 787 Delays

We're beginning to think we may never fly on one of Boeing's new Dreamliners. The company announced this morning that it's yet again pushing back the debut of its fancy, fuel-efficient 787s, saying it'll get them off the ground by the end of 2008. That means the first commercial flights won't happen until well into 2009.

The news is sad for plane geeks like us, but it could be worse. Some airlines, like Australia's Jetstar, have tied their expansion plans to the 787. No new planes means no new routes--and no new cash rolling in.

British Airways and Virgin Atlantic are also among the carriers affected. No doubt all three airlines are hoping this is the last of the game-killing delays.

Related Stories:
· More Delays for Launch of Dreamliner [CBC]
· Dreamliner Delays Killing Jetstar's Game [Jaunted]
· Dreamliner Makes Emperor Palpatine-Style Entrance [Jaunted]

[Photo: Wikipedia]

Tags: Crime / Jetstar / LCCs / Low Cost Carriers / Australia Travel / Flight Attendants / → All Tags

Another Reason Not to Take Water Bottles on Board

Qantas offshoot and LCC Jetstar has made more of a habit of hitting our headlines with good news than bad--they have mystery shoppers to keep standards high, and the airline wants us to be able to fly long haul from Oz to Europe on the cheap.

Of course, a bad news headline was waiting just around the corner: An ex-flight attendant claims that while she was a passenger on a flight from Sydney to Phuket, the Aussie soldiers sitting near her spiked her bottle of water while she was in the bathroom. She passed out, wet herself, and came to an hour later, in her words, "mortified and devastated".

We're not sure what's going on here, but the odd part is that she didn't complain to the airline--she just told a television network. Jetstar says they only have a record of her falling ill and being cared for in a curtained-off crew area. Whatever the real story, we might just be taking our water bottles with us to the bathroom in future.

Related Stories:
· Woman Claims Drink Spiked During Flight [news.com.au]
· Mystery Shoppers Hide on Jetstar [Jaunted]
· Crime coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: monkeyc.net]