What ever the reasons may be, it is another opportunity for anyone sensible to see why airlines and therefore passengers struggle in Darwin. On a $99 ticket if $76.88 is to be paid to the airport (and for what?? there isn't even drinking water once you clear immigration). Now you call that a favourable business environment? If so, it will make a great case study even for the Harvard Business School. Let us not forget that even when Airasia or someone else is gone, this reality persists.
Posted by: Ganesh 12:00pm Monday Comment 39 of 39
dont hear hendo yelling to much about.must be in the backroom again rebuilding darwin with his lego blocks
Posted by: paul of darwin 7:47am Sunday Comment 38 of 39
Jet Star is saving it's dollars - It's international flights to and from Cairns and Townsville are "Topped up" with Locals to fill it's aircraft. It's no cheaper for you - But getting to the airport 2 hours ealier plus the treak through customs each time is just horrible - Done it once - next time I'll ask if the plane is International
Posted by: Vakuta of Palmerston 10:17pm Saturday Comment 37 of 39
Who cares, only idiots go to Bali and support terrorism. It makes Bogans feel rich and they get their pathetic cheap clothes. Save your money, buy Qantas and go somewhere where the dude that cooks your food uses toilet paper and washes his hands afterwards.
Posted by: Steve of Gunn 9:43pm Saturday Comment 36 of 39
To the fools of NT, Thai Air Asia use the same aircraft as Jetstar, wouldn't you think if it could be done Jetstar would already be flying there. How many Airlines have come and gone since Jetstar have been in the territory, and how many of those flights are half the price you were paying 5 -10 years ago. Be careful what you wish for one Jetstar may take up the offer to leave and you fools will be paying double again.
Posted by: Frequent Flyer NT 9:26pm Saturday Comment 35 of 39
Ha Ha Ha Another one bites the dust,..... I'm still stewing from when QANTAS spit the dummy over unfair work outages practised by the unions.....or have we forgotten so soon. We get the service we deserve.
Posted by: Roo 6:15pm Saturday Comment 34 of 39
Even if air asia returned to darwin i would never use them again.I fly to bali every three to eight weeks and book tickets 6month in advance and over the last seven month thay have cost me nothing but headaches and money with changed flight schedules,and now pulling the pin on Darwin at a moments notice.Bing back Garuda Indonesia
Posted by: c j 5:18pm Saturday Comment 33 of 39
Why on earth would anyone want to go to Bali anyway? The place is a sh*t hole and stinks really bad. Bali is just another state of Australia, full of Australians. Slogan; Don't bring drugs onto our island or we will kill you. But you can buy drugs from our goverment supplied drug dealers, but we will still kill you. Stop being so cheap and save for a REAL holiday. And If your a parent allowing your children to go there with their friends, then your a bad parent and you have failded..
Posted by: Benji of Bora Bora (someday) 5:03pm Saturday Comment 32 of 39
Outback Academic of Alice Spring - SPOT ON !! - Thank God for your comment...I thought I was the only one that new this h ah ahahhaaaa.
Posted by: Vakuta of Palmerston 4:51pm Saturday Comment 31 of 39
What we really need is Thai Air Asia and a direct Darwin to Bangkok flight, then Jetstar can not undercut the service and this is a service with no competition. Hope this gets a go soon!
Posted by: Outback Academic of Alice Springs 3:28pm Saturday Comment 30 of 39
We are so god damn apathetic in this part of the world. No one cares about lack of housing in decent areas so we sit back and watch the government build ghettos in swamplands. We suffer from remoteness but governments do nothing to build up sustainable air and port services. What is going on?
Posted by: fred of cdb 3:27pm Saturday Comment 29 of 39
It'll all come good when the phantom 70,000 arrive
Posted by: Bob A 2:57pm Saturday Comment 28 of 39
To unc fester -- jetstar is quite often much cheaper than airasia..i flew in november to bali with airasia paying $80 more than the Jetstar fare we paid last month to fly darwin bali ! have you actually flown with either ???
Posted by: suzie of nightcliff 2:31pm Saturday Comment 27 of 39
Another failure when will the airport management realise their costs are whats driving these airlines away try thinking of the people for once & not about their greed
Posted by: Granpa Lemon 2:24pm Saturday Comment 26 of 39
I have a flight booked for July and as yet have not been contacted
Posted by: Not impressed of Darwin 1:02pm Saturday Comment 25 of 39
How much longer will the ACCC let Qantas/Jetstar "Predatory Price" other airlines out of Darwin by deliberately discounting sectors with competition. Look at Tiger as a prime example. Darwin is being held back by the power of Qantas. Shame on Qantas for these practices and shame as well for the government for letting this continue! To the general public watch the price of Jetstar flights now suddenly rise now there is no competition!
Posted by: Outback Academic of Alice Springs 12:45pm Saturday Comment 24 of 39
thats crap, ok darwin airport has to lower there tax's, but aye, why dont you stop flying to australia all together yeah, we have vigin australia anyway, we dnt need a airasia anyway, enough asian ways has it is FULL STOP!!
Posted by: grant of Darwin/Perth 11:42am Saturday Comment 23 of 39
Maybe they should just concentrate on the Philippines, they will need plenty of flights for the 457 workers as soon as Inpex etc, get started.
Posted by: chris of VN 10:33am Saturday Comment 22 of 39
And good riddance no loss, and Silk Air will do the same in the next couple of years
Posted by: Bali is a dump of Darwin 10:14am Saturday Comment 21 of 39
''next''
Posted by: john the baptis of funny bay 9:58am Saturday Comment 20 of 39
No Loss. Bali is not that great anyway.
Posted by: travelledtheworld of Darwin 9:57am Saturday Comment 19 of 39
What a shame... I flew that route a few times, but only to transit through Bali - which has now become a cesspit compared to Thailand. My last flight with them (4 days ago) was only half-full. If they had used Bali as a short-transit hub (instead of always having to stay overnight) it would have been competitive as a stay in Singapore is just so much more expensive.
Posted by: Gonna Miss It of Darwin 9:52am Saturday Comment 18 of 39
Love the "she'll be right" attitude.
Posted by: Chris in the morning of Stuart Park 9:28am Saturday Comment 17 of 39
Mr Henderson - Yes they come and go because Darwin Airport Management charge the airlines so much that they have to leave. They did the same thing to Tiger, who still want to come back to Darwin but cannot afford the airport charges. Isn't that right Mr Jim Parashos. Tiger is flying the southern routes and would like to come back but Qantas and Jetstar are frightened of losing customers. They did the same thing to Virgin when they started but the owner had the money to "wear them down"
Posted by: Vakuta of Palmerston 9:09am Saturday Comment 16 of 39
Whats new, get a handout to come here,cash up in the dry and then leave the locols for dead in the wet, I wonder how long Silk Air will last, any bets?
Posted by: Spike of Humpty Doo 8:55am Saturday Comment 15 of 39
With a callsign like Wagon Air is anyone really surprised. Perhaps they are making a stand on live export in their cattle class cabins. Snap
Posted by: Har Har Har of Darwin 8:53am Saturday Comment 14 of 39
And I thought we were the gateway to Asia, complete bullsh*t........Another sign that the economic picture isn't right!
Posted by: Jimmy of Palmerston 8:24am Saturday Comment 13 of 39
Henderson , you may think of budget airlines as buses , but for hard working families who save for holidays only to have them pulled out from under them , its devastating . Poor , unfeeling comments from a CHIEF MINISTER . Get in touch with the real people .
Posted by: Rebecca N of McMinns Lagoon 8:14am Saturday Comment 12 of 39
Stop giving these charlatans money. One after another they all go broke and cause grief.
Posted by: mangrovejack of darwin 8:00am Saturday Comment 11 of 39
so look like we going to get ripped off agean .. so much for a return trip to bali for $200 and we all be going to be paying more ....as i shore jetstar will not give us the price return for under $200
Posted by: cheap trips to see my wife every month over of darwin 8:00am Saturday Comment 10 of 39
So, where does that leave us? Jetstar only, and already more than twice the price of Air Asia. Watch the prices soar now!!
Posted by: Uncle Fester of Darwin 7:39am Saturday Comment 9 of 39
Why should a government pay for the advertising of a company? It is not the business of government to invest into business like this but to provide assistance by cutting the red tape etc... And what was the actual return on thos investment? Well there is another $56 000 down the drain that could have been spent somewhere else. Here's an idea how about investing in a Amyway selling, I hear you can make lots of money that way.
Posted by: Flybys Out of Here 7:28am Saturday Comment 8 of 39
And how do we get our money back when you can't even contact the a*seholes?
Posted by: seafunster of Darwin 7:26am Saturday Comment 7 of 39
Thats a good plan from Henderson, just being "Sure" someone will step in and take their place makes me feel much more confident.
Posted by: smug of Darwin 7:21am Saturday Comment 6 of 39
Air Asia remove capacity. Jetstar cancel the four flights a week to Ho Chi Minh, and only increase flights a week to Singapore by two to nine, not the three to ten they advertised in January. So despite the arrival of Silk Air, it would appear that international capacity is dropping. Don't blame the government - Darwin is a tiny destination, and our key market is FIFO workers, European Tourists, and Territorians wanting to escape.
Posted by: Dippy 6:53am Saturday Comment 5 of 39
Unitil Darwin promotes itself INBOUND froma the north air services will alaways be fragile . Darwin is an INBOUND destination .How oftenhas Darwin been promoted in SEAsia to support the flights into Darwin and make Darwin a close way into Australia . Europeans on holiday in Bali have no idea that they are so close to Ausytralia through Darwin .
Posted by: Struart of Mildura 6:42am Saturday Comment 4 of 39
Someone will step in, Like Who??? They drop Darwin like a sack a potatoes every time.
Posted by: Matt of X Alice" 6:31am Saturday Comment 3 of 39
aussies should stop injecting funds into thie terrorist breeding ground anyway, tour somewhere else.
Posted by: crunch the numbers of politcal spin 6:00am Saturday Comment 2 of 39
There's no subsidies to any airline, are you sure..maybe not at a state or territory level... but what about federally..
Posted by: Another Member Of The Darwin Community 2:10am Saturday Comment 1 of 39