Australian low-fare carrier Jetstar is wasting no time sending its growing fleet of latest Airbus A321LRs to destinations near and much. The most recent news is that the long-range narrowbodies will likely be tracing a brand new route over the South Pacific to Fiji, starting just in time for the height Christmas and summer holiday season down under.
On Tuesday, Jetstar announced it’s starting direct flights between Melbourne and Fiji from December sixteenth, subject to gaining the needed government approval. This comes hot on the heels of last week’s inaugural flight between Sydney and Rarotonga within the Cook Islands, marking the primary time an Australian airline had served the route in greater than 30 years.
Find flights from Melbourne to Fiji here
One other route enabled by the A321LR
As with the Sydney Airport to Rarotonga route, the brand new service from Melbourne will likely be operated with an Airbus A321LR, one in every of eight currently in Jetstar’s fleet. Keeping track of the A321neos is slightly tricky as a brand new one is arriving, on average, every month, which is why we’re seeing these latest routes launched. The following one is anticipated in July, and all 18 will likely be in Jetstar’s hands by the tip of 2024.
Photo: Michael Doran I Easy Flying.
Jetstar chief customer officer Alan McIntyre said Melburnians can now access low-fares and a non-stop flight to Fiji. He added:
“Fiji is a hugely popular destination for Australians, and with interest continuing to grow, we’re offering greater than 70,000 great low fare seats every year between Melbourne and Fiji. Since relaunching our Sydney to Fiji services, we have seen strong demand from Melbourne travelers, and from December they’ll have the ability to fly direct.”
Changes to the Sydney – Fiji route
Jetstar is already flying between Sydney Airport (SYD) and Fiji’s Nadi International Airport (NAN) using an Airbus A320-200, although that service will switch to the A321LR from October twenty ninth. The additional fuel capability of the A321LR extends its range, and using the brand new aircraft adds an additional 46 seats over the A320 used on the Sydney-Nadi service.
Yesterday, flight JQ119 departed Sydney at 10:14 and, after a 3:34 hour flight, landed in Fiji at 15:48. The aircraft used was an A320-200, registered VH-VGA and MSN 4899, which left Fiji at 17:35 and arrived in Sydney at 20:19.
Photo: Jetstar
The brand new service will likely be the primary time a low-cost carrier has operated direct flights between Melbourne and Fiji, and it’s going to be operated 3 times weekly. The flight will depart MEL on Monday, Thursday and Saturday at 06:15 and arrive in Fiji at 12:15, with the return leaving NAN at 13:15 and landing in Melbourne at 17:50.
Jetstar will operate the Sydney flights on Tuesday, Friday and Sunday to enrich the Melbourne service and provides connecting passengers more selections. Using the A321LR, flight JQ119 will depart at 09:45 and land at NAN at 14:55, depart again at 16:00 and arrive in Sydney at 19:50.
Have you ever flown on Jetstar’s A321LR? Tell us within the comments.