Australia’s Jetstar resumes international, NZ domestic ops

Jetstar Airways (JQ, Melbourne Tullamarine) resumed scheduled international flights on December 15, 2021, more than 600 days after they were stopped due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Australian low-cost carrier, a subsidiary of Qantas Group, flew from Melbourne Tullamarine to Singapore Changi with its B787-8, VH-VKI (msn 36235). Services to Singapore will initially operate 4x weekly, the ch-aviation schedules module shows. Two days later, on December 17, the airline restarted 5x weekly services from Sydney Kingsford Smith to Nadi in Fiji operated with A320-200s.

Jetstar Airways had not operated international passenger flights since March 26, 2020, although it does ply scheduled and charter cargo-only services. The LCC intends to resume services to more international destinations, including Thailand, Denpasar, Japan, and Viet Nam, in early 2022, subject to the relaxation of travel restrictions. That, however, is currently in doubt as many countries, including Thailand and Indonesia, have tightened their entry rules again due to the spread of the Omicron variant.

On the same day, the LCC also resumed domestic operations in New Zealand after a five-month gap. It currently operates four routes out of Auckland Int’l – to Christchurch, Dunedin, Queenstown, and Wellington, all with A320s.