Jetstar Asia To Cease Operations on 31 July
Qantas Australia said its budget airline Jetstar Asia is facing high costs and it’s affecting its ability to provide comparable services like AirAsia and Scoot.
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Those who have booked Jetstar Asia flights for trips after 31 July will have to rebook their tickets with other airlines.
Australia’s Qantas said Jetstar Asia, the group’s Singapore-based budget airline, will close and cease operations on 31 July due to rising supplier costs, higher airport fees, and increasing competition among low-cost carriers.
Group CEO Vanessa Hudson said the company has seen some supplier cost rise by up to 200%. The high costs challenge the airline’s ability to provide comparable services like its competitors, Capital A’s AirAsia, Singapore Airlines’ Scoot, and Vietnam’s VietJet Aviation.
According to Channel News Asia, the airline will still continue flights for the next seven weeks. Jetstar Asia customers with existing bookings on cancelled flights will be offered full refunds. The Qantas Group will also look into placing customers onto other available airlines if possible.
With Jetstar Asia’s closure, more than 500 people will be laid off. Employees will be provided with redundancy benefits and employment support services while Qantas works to place former staff across the group or with other airlines in the region.
Which flight routes will be affected?
Jetstar Asia flights from Singapore to destinations in Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines, China, Sri Lanka, Japan, and Australia will be affected.
Routes out of Singapore to Broome (Australia), Labuan Bajo (Indonesia), Okinawa (Japan) and Wuxi (China) are also directly affected as these flights are exclusively operated by the airline.
However, domestic and international operations in Australia and New Zealand and Jetstar Japan will remain unaffected.
Additionally, Qantas said 13 Jetstar Asia Airbus A320 aircraft will be redirected to Australia and New Zealand.
Information to note about refunds
If your flight is before 31 July, you or your travel agent will be informed of any flight changes.
If your flight is after 31 July, you will be offered a full cash refund or offered an alternative Qantas Group flight. You will be contacted by email or through your travel agent.
If you have vouchers or memberships, voucher balances can be converted into monetary refund. Singapore-based Club Jetstar members will also have their annual fee refunded. However, there are no refunds for vouchers and memberships that expired before 11 June.
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