Relax - Jetstar eyes long-haul destinations in 2010

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BUDGET airline Jetstar Asia will not give up trying to break into the long-haul market, and hopes to score a long-haul destination by the end of next year, said chief executive Chong Phit Lian.

The airline is keen on routes to Japan, China and the Middle East, and will apply for the rights to offer long-haul services there if the opportunity arises, she said.

This is despite a setback last month, when the carrier lost a battle for the rights to fly to Tokyo's Haneda airport to Singapore Airlines (SIA).
A flight is considered long-haul if it lasts more than five hours.

Ms Chong was speaking at a media briefing prior to Jetstar Asia's inaugural flight to Haikou, the carrier's first mainland China destination.

Four flights depart weekly to the capital of Hainan island, three hours and 15 minutes away from Singapore.

Ms Chong expects strong demand for flights to this city, popular with golfers and the Hainanese community here.

Ms Tabitha Boon, 18, a Singaporean Hainanese visiting Hainan island for the first time, was on the Jetstar flight yesterday. She said: "Because there are more opportunities for people to go to Hainan island, I think it will open up a lot of possibilities for the Hainanese to get back to their roots."

Tiger Airways is the only other budget airline to fly directly from Singapore to Haikou.

With a view to making further inroads into the China market, Jetstar Asia will offer flights to Shantou in Guangdong province from Feb 2 next year, and is awaiting approval to fly to three other undisclosed cities in China.

That these cities are less than five hours away - and so considered "short -haul" - was the only detail Ms Chong would reveal.

If Jetstar Asia gets to ply long-haul routes, it will be something to be "very excited about", said Mr Vincent Ng, a Standard & Poor's equity-research aviation analyst.

"The macro-environment is suitable for such a hybrid product (budget carriers that take on some characteristics of a full-service carrier)... The economic downturn has forced passengers to downgrade from business class to economy, and from economy to budget. This applies to both corporate- and leisuretravel segments," he added.

Jetstar Asia is considered a hybrid carrier, as it offers some amenities - such as offering assigned seats during check-in - not available on true-blue budget carriers.

Should Jetstar Asia break into the long-haul market, it could deploy an Airbus A330, which seats over 300 passengers, to complement its fleet of eight Airbus A320s.

The carrier plans to increase this fleet to 10 A320s by the middle of next year.

Asked if SIA would lower prices should Jetstar Asia secure long-haul routes, an SIA spokesman said: "It is not part of our business strategy to compete on the basis of fare pricing alone, which is how we differ from those in the low-cost carrier sector.

"We compete on the basis of our strengths, (such as) our extensive network spanning 149 major cities...loyalty programmes (and) ground services, including lounges for business travellers."

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Jetstar eyes long-haul destinations in 2010

By RACHEL CHAN, my paper | Thu, Dec 17 2009

Airline keen on routes to Japan, China and the Middle East.

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