Qantas to boost domestic capacity
Qantas and Jetstar will increase capacity on several domestic routes over the next 12 months.
The group has unveiled plans to add 11 weekly Qantas flights between Sydney and Melbourne from 9 July 2012 and 11 weekly services between Sydney and Brisbane from 23 August 2012. Jetstar will add 21 weekly flights between Sydney and Melbourne from 16 August 2012, followed by an extra seven weekly Sydney-Adelaide services from 15 November.
Jetstar’s domestic expansion will continue in 2013 with the addition of seven weekly flights between Sydney and both Ballina-Byron and the Gold Coast, while three weekly flights will be added to the Adelaide-Gold Coast route, and four weekly services to the Newcastle-Gold Coast route. All 2013 increases will take effect on 18 April.
“The introduction of these services in 2012-13 will result in an increase of more than 496,000 additional Jetstar seats and 400,000 Qantas seats per year along the east coast,” said Qantas’ Group CEO, Alan Joyce.
“With Qantas and Jetstar we have two complementary brands that enable us to respond to opportunities and changing market conditions. Qantas is increasing capacity and frequency on key business routes to provide greater flexibility for customers who prefer the benefits of travelling with a full service carrier. Jetstar is increasing capacity on key leisure routes, building on its tremendous success of offering low fares into holiday destinations like the Gold Coast.
“We know from experience that increasing the number of low fares in these markets will stimulate new travel demand,” he added.
Earlier this week Qantas announced that it would separate its domestic and international operations.