Last Sunday, Jetstar’s first flight from the Gold Coast in Australia departed for Seoul, South Korea. The route will be operated three times weekly in conjunction with JeJu Air, utilizing a two-class Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner.
On Monday, Jetstar announced the completion of their inaugural flight from the Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia to Seoul, South Korea. The flight (JQ49) took off from the Gold Coast at 11:35AM Sunday morning and arrived in Seoul at around 8:15PM. The route will be operated in cooperation with JeJu Air three times a week on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays. The return flight (JQ50) departs Seoul at 10:15PM, arriving Gold Coast at 8:30AM (+1). The route will be serviced with a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner in a two-class configuration accommodating 335 passengers. Speaking before the departure of the inaugural flight, Jetstar’s CEO, Gareth Evans said,
“With the number of Australians travelling to Korea increasing by 24 per cent in the last five years we know this service would be popular and that’s certainly the case – bookings have been really strong. G old Coast locals are making the most of the opportunity to fly direct to one of the most fascinating countries in Asia and we are also seeing great demand from customers in Melbourne and Sydney connecting through Gold Coast to take advantage of our low fares. We know from experience that low-cost flights have a strong influence on setting tourism trends in markets like Japan [where] the number of Australian visitors has doubled since we first launched flights in 2007. We expect to see a similar trend with our flights to Seoul.”
Speaking on the reciprocal tourism to Australia, Mr. Evans added,
“The Gold Coast has everything Australia is famous for: sun, surf, great food, shopping and amazing outdoor and adventure experiences. South Koreans travel more per capita than any other country in the Asia Pacific and rank Australia at the top country they want to visit. So, it’s great to be able to offer the first direct, low fares service between the two countries to support and grow local tourism opportunities. We expect our new service will contribute up to $170 million to the Queensland economy over the next three years, and with Jetstar connections to seven other major Australian cities, South Koreans are now able to enjoy the Gold Coast as the perfect place to start their holiday in Australia.”
The Jetstar Group consists of Jetstar Airways (a Qantas Group subsidiary) in Australia and New Zealand, Jetstar Asia in Singapore, Jetstar Pacific in Vietnam, and Jetstar Japan. Combined, the Jetstar branded carriers operate around 5,000 weekly flights to over 85 destinations.
Source: Jetstar