- termination of flights from Darwin to Manila and onwards to Tokyo
- reduction in Bali flights from eight per week to daily, which will now originate from Brisbane
- reduction in Singapore flights from nine per week to daily, with operation transferring to Jetstar Asia and flights continuing on to Cairns
In each case Jetstar claims, with some justification, that competition from foreign carriers in recent years (Philippine Airlines - Manila, Airasia Indonesia - Bali, SilkAir - Singapore) haa contribution factor in their decision.
The Sydney Morning Herald reported on Jetstar's announcement and also noted ongoing concerns about high airport changes in Darwin and the declining fortune of Jetstar's parent, Qantas.
Jetstar has today announced some changes to its operations in the Northern Territory which includes the relocation of three Airbus A320 aircraft currently based in Darwin to Adelaide.
This change will result in a small reduction in services and a reorganisation of Jetstar’s operations from Darwin. The changes, in effect from 31 March 2014, include;
- increasing flights between Darwin and Cairns from three per week to daily;
- decreasing flights between Darwin and Denpasar from eight per week to daily;
- decreasing flights between Darwin and Brisbane from nine per week to daily;
- suspending the four times weekly service from Darwin to Manila and Tokyo; and
- decreasing flights between Darwin and Singapore from nine per week to daily services, with the operation of these flights transferred from Jetstar Airways to Jetstar Asia.
The decision to relocate flying is in response to increased capacity and competition, particularly on international routes from foreign carriers.
Jetstar has been clear in the past that our flying from Darwin is among the most marginal on the network.
These changes will ensure we maintain the highest productivity of our aircraft and reflect our strategy to deploy aircraft on routes to meet market demand.
It makes sense to base aircraft where there is more network growth as it keeps our fares low and ensures we have the flexibility to optimise our network and adapt to changing market conditions.
http://www.jetstar.com/mediacentre/latest-announcements/detail?Id=9D21E5E4-69D9-466E-9D94-17D1FB308FE1
Sydney Morning Herald, 9 December 2014, Matt O'Sullivan
The decision to reduce Jetstar’s exposure to the Northern Territory comes less than a week after its parent, Qantas, announced it will axe at least 1000 jobs across the airline group over the next year.
Jetstar’s 93 staff including pilots and flight attendants who are based in Darwin will be transferred to other cities around Australia, while three A320 aircraft will be shifted to Adelaide.
The budget airline will ditch its four weekly flights from Darwin to Manila and Tokyo, and reduce weekly services to Denpasar in Bali from eight to seven, and to Brisbane from nine to seven.
It will also shift the operation of flights between Darwin and Singapore to Jetstar Asia, which is based in the Asian city-state. The flights to Singapore will drop from nine to seven a week.
However, Jetstar will increase services between Darwin and Cairns from three a week to seven.
The airline blamed an increase in competition, particularly on international routes from foreign airlines such as Malaysia’s AirAsia X and Singapore’s SilkAir, for its decision to close its Darwin base.
It also said it had been clear in the past that flying from Darwin was ‘‘among the most marginal’’ on its network.
Adelaide will benefit from the changes with the budget airline choosing to base pilots and crew in the South Australian capital, as well as three A320s from Darwin and another from Melbourne.
About 120 extra positions for pilot, flight attendants and ground staff will be created in Adelaide from next March, which will result in it adding an extra daily flight to both Sydney and Melbourne.
The airline is also due to begin direct services from Adelaide to both Auckland and Bali this month.
Jetstar also signalled last week that it is likely to ditch flying to Avalon Airport near Geelong from Sydney and Brisbane due to poor returns from those services.
Shares in Qantas slumped for their fifth consecutive day on Monday, trading down 1.5 cents at $1.015 in the wake of credit ratings agency Standard & Poor’s downgrading the airline to junk status.
The stock is hovering just shy of an all-time low of 96¢ struck last year.
Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/business/aviation/jetstar-to-close-darwin-base-and-cut-nt-flights-20131209-2z0xl.html#ixzz2mwoC0UxE