Summary
- Jetstar shows ongoing support for the LGBTQI+ community by painting one in all its Airbus A320s with a colourful pride livery.
- The aircraft with the brand new paint job shall be seen across the nation because it operates multiple domestic flights on various routes.
- The pride livery brings visibility to the LGBTQI+ community, supporting the Midsumma Festival and the Qantas Group’s Illuminate network.
Australia’s low-cost airline Jetstar has long supported the LGBTQI+ community and has continued that steadfast support by painting one in all its Airbus A320s with a brand new Flying with Pride livery. The livery was revealed this week and comes just in time for the Midsumma Festival, an annual queer arts and culture festival held in Melbourne that can bring lots of the airline’s customers to Melbourne.
A colourful addition to Jetstar’s fleet
On Tuesday, Australia’s largest low-cost carrier Jetstar unveiled its latest rainbow-colored pride livery to have a good time its ongoing support of the LGBTQI+ community. Jetstar, a member of the Qantas Group, is marking eight years of being the official airline partner of the Midsumma Festival, an arts and cultural festival held in Melbourne, which next 12 months runs from Sunday, January 21 to Sunday, February 11, 2024.
Photo: Jetstar
Jetstar said it’s stepping up its pride celebrations this 12 months by applying the brand new Flying with Pride and rainbow star livery to one in all its Airbus A320 aircraft. The aircraft with the colourful paint job is a 2014 Airbus A320-200, registration VH-VFY and MSN 06362, which was out of motion for a couple of days because it took on its latest identity.
Since returning to service yesterday, it has spread the Pride message far and wide, operating twelve return services on routes and destinations as diverse as Hobart, Adelaide, Ayers Rock, Launceston, Newcastle, Melbourne and the Sunshine Coast. The Flying with Pride message is difficult to miss because it’s emblazoned across nine meters (30 feet), and with a heavy domestic schedule, it’ll be seen across the nation in the approaching weeks.
Photo: Ryan Fletcher | Shutterstock
Jetstar CEO Stephanie Tully said the airline had been a long-time supporter of the LGBTQI+ community, summing up the airline’s approach this fashion:
“There is a seat for everybody at Jetstar, regardless of the way you discover, and this inclusive spirit is now on display greater than ever. Melbourne is Jetstar’s home and we’re incredibly proud to be the official airline partner for Midsumma for the eighth 12 months in a row.”
The message will go far and wide
The stunning pride livery was applied within the airline’s engineering hangar at Melbourne Airport, which was also the venue for Jetstar, Qantas, Midsumma Festival and Melbourne Airport staff to get together for its official unveiling on Tuesday night. Those that got here along to see the brand new livery also heard more about Midsdumma’s 2024 program and the Qantas Group’s Illuminate support network for LGBTQI+ employees and their allies.
The people from the Midsumma Festival organization are obviously delighted to see what Jetstar has done, and CEO Karen Bryant said that
Photo: Jetstar
If bringing visibility to the Midsumma Festival and showing the airline’s support for the LGBTQI+ community is the goal, then this A320 is the right platform. A take a look at its flight history in recent weeks shows it’s a daily visitor to the entire capital cities, with frequent flights from its Melbourne base to Sydney, Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth and Hobart, with even the occasional flight to the nation’s capital of Canberra.
In response to fleet data from , Jetstar has 53 Airbus A320-200s and 6 A321-0200s, with the star of the fleet now the new-generation A321LR, the longer-range narrowbody that is working a combination of domestic and international services. Jetstar has nine of those in operation and, by the top of 2024, may have 24 in its fleet, with an extra five A321LRs and 15 of the extra-long-range variant, the A321XLR, operating in Jetstar colours by 2029.