Jetstar announced plans for route expansion, new aircraft and domestic seat assignments in a media briefing at the Australian Tourism Exchange under way this week in Adelaide. The low-cost carrier intends to expand its long haul route structure in November, pending regulatory approval. The carrier wants to operate three flights a week between Sydney and Honolulu, two a week between Sydney and Bali, three a week between Sydney and Phuket, three a week between Sydney and Ho Chi Minh City and daily service between Sydney and Kansai International in Osaka. In addition, the carrier intends to offer two flights a week between Melbourne and Honolulu, two a week between Melbourne and Bali, three a week between Melbourne and Bangkok and daily service between Brisbane and Kansai. The carrier will begin serving these routes with four A330-200 aircraft it will obtain from Qantas and will add two new A330-200s it will receive from Airbus in mid-2007. The carrier will transition these routes to service using B787 Dreamliner aircraft beginning in August 2008. It will institute two-class service on the routes when it puts the new aircraft into use. In other news, Jetstar will be putting assigned seating in place across its entire domestic route structure by the end of October; bookings for travel after that date can be made with seat assignments requested.
