Qantas Group low-cost carrier Jetstar ended the 2023 Financial 12 months on a high note, which is nice news after its spate of disruptions and groundings throughout the last twelve months. On Thursday, it became the primary Australian airline to fly on to the Cook Islands in 33 years and the following day, it announced day by day flights from Australia to South Korea.
A day by day flight to South Korea
Jetstar launched flights from Sydney to the South Korean capital of Seoul in November 2022 and currently operates the service thrice weekly. On Friday, it announced a fourth weekly flight will start on February fifth, 2024, which Jetstar said will increase capability between Sydney and Seoul to around 90,000 seats annually.
Photo: Jetstar
Subject to government approval, the combined schedule will include flights from Sydney Kingsford Smith Airport (SYD) to Seoul on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. Jetstar’s JQ47 departs at 14:45 on Monday and 11:45 on the opposite days and arrives at Seoul Incheon Airport (ICN) at 23:15 and 20:15, respectively. The return JQ48 departs at 21:50 on Wednesday, Friday and Sunday and at 00:50 on Tuesday to reach in Sydney the following day at 10:05 or 13:05.
On Friday, Jetstar announced it’s adding three latest weekly return flights between Brisbane Airport (BNE) and Seoul starting on February 1st, 2024. This service, JQ53, will depart Brisbane at 14:45 and arrive in Seoul at 23:15 on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. The return JQ54 leaves Seoul on Wednesday, Friday and Sunday at 00:50 to reach in Brisbane at 11:00. Jetstar currently operates the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner between Sydney and Seoul, which takes around ten hours to make the trip.
Chief customer officer Alan McIntyre said Australian customers have fallen in love with Seoul’s mixture of skyscrapers, vibrant nightlife, popular culture, wealthy history and incredible food. He added:
“From February next 12 months we’ll offer a complete of seven return flights every week between Sydney, Brisbane and Seoul, across day-after-day of the week, creating greater than 240,000 seats in each directions. Having low-cost fares available day-after-day means 1000’s more Australians and South Korean travellers will have the ability to take the vacation of a lifetime.”
1st Australian airline to fly direct to Cook Islands in over 30 years
Also last week, Jetstar became the primary Australian airline to fly direct between Australia and the Cook Islands in greater than 30 years. Jetstar already operates three return flights weekly between Auckland and Rarotonga (Cook Islands), however the direct flight from Sydney will save Australian travelers a minimum of three hours.
Photo: Jetstar
The last Australian airline to operate a service between Australia and the Cook Islands was an Ansett Australia company. Its aircraft flew with Cook Islands International and Polynesian livery before ceasing operations in 1990. The arrival of Airbus A321LRs into the Jetstar fleet has made the route possible, with the narrowbody operating the route on Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday.
Flight JQ141 departs Sydney (SYD) at 21:30 and around 5:30 hours later arrives in Rarotonga (RAR) at 07:00. The return flight leaves Rarotonga at 09:00 and arrives in Sydney at 12:30 the next day, provided that Rarotonga sits across the International Date Line from Australia and the westerly flight takes around two hours longer as a result of the prevailing winds. Jetstar’s McIntyre said:
“Now only a five-hour flight from Sydney, our latest service will make the Cook Islands the following hot holiday spot for Australians searching for a tropical island escape to chill out and unwind, especially during cooler months.”
Photo: Jetstar
The A321LR and A321XLR are geared toward medium-haul thin routes like this, so it’ll be interesting to see how customers take to the 7:30-hour return flight on a narrowbody aircraft. Jetstar’s A321LRs are configured in a one-class layout of 232 economy seats, so while the economics are great for the airline, the passenger experience may not measure as much as what travelers are used to and expect on flights of this duration.
Would you be completely satisfied to do that flight? Tell us within the comments.