ustralia’s low fares leader Jetstar will significantly grow its domestic Australian operations in 2010 by introducing an additional 700,000 new seats annually to some of Australia’s most popular destinations.

In one of the largest single announcements of new capacity growth since commencing operations in 2004, between March and July 2010 Jetstar will introduce 77 new weekly return services predominantly from its Melbourne and Sydney gateways to Australia’s key leisure ports.

The new capacity represents the introduction of an additional four new A320 aircraft.

Australians will have even greater opportunities to purchase every day low fares to some of Australia’s most popular destinations such as the Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast, Cairns, Newcastle and Tasmania.

Jetstar Chief Executive Officer Bruce Buchanan said Jetstar was excited to be announcing one of its most significant growth spurts for its Australian business, set to benefit consumers seeking value-for-money fares, award-winning service and frequent and convenient schedules.

“This announcement of new capacity is in direct response to continued strong consumer demand for Jetstar’s low fares,” Mr Buchanan said.

“More services mean more seats and greater opportunity to travel with a low fares leader, which is great news for Australian consumers and the Australian tourism industry.” The new services include:

To celebrate the launch of the additional capacity, Jetstar has launched a $15 million Stocktake Sale at Jetstar.com. Fares start from $29 (e.g Brisbane-Rockhampton) and cover a range of routes across Jetstar’s domestic and international network. Sale now on until midnight (23:59 AEDT) Sunday 13 December 2009, unless sold out prior. Terms and conditions apply – visit Jetstar.com.

Mr Buchanan said in the 2009 financial year more than 8.1 million passengers travelled with Jetstar around Australia.

He said the introduction of 700,000 new seats has the potential to grow this figure by almost 7 percent.

“Jetstar’s domestic network continues to provide a platform for this success, with the airline’s Australian domestic market share continuing to grow to around 18 percent, maintaining Qantas Group market share at 65 percent,” Mr Buchanan said.

“Jetstar for the last financial year was the most profitable airline in the region with a record profit of $137 million, which when compared to our major domestic competitors is up to 23 percent better profit margin. This provides a strong platform for continued profitable growth.

“Putting it into perspective, this new capacity we will introduce next year equates to close to half the amount of capacity that we launched across our Australian ports in 2004.

“This new growth is yet another example of how Jetstar is proactively responding to the Australian travelling public’s strong demand for a combination for low fares, award-winning service and a hassle-free way to travel.”

The additional capacity will boost Jetstar’s share to the Gold Coast to over 50 per cent, and will take the airline to two-thirds of total capacity into the Sunshine Coast and Newcastle

Highlights of the capacity growth in relation to specific markets include:

• 35 extra weekly services to Gold Coast from Melbourne, Sydney and Newcastle
• 18 extra weekly services to Cairns from Perth, Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney
• 14 extra weekly services to Newcastle from Gold Coast and Melbourne
• 10 extra weekly services to Sunshine Coast from Sydney and Melbourne

Jetstar backs its commitment to offering the lowest fares on all the routes it flies with its Jetstar Price Beat Guarantee, whereby Jetstar will beat any competitor by 10 per cent. Conditions Apply, visit Jetstar.com.

The new capacity includes an announcement earlier this month that Jetstar will double its capacity on the Melbourne-Cairns route with a double daily service from 1 April 2010.

Jetstar has also already announced additional growth in Tasmania, with more flights between Melbourne-Hobart and Brisbane-Launceston over the New Year period, and in March 2010. Jetstar will operate a fifth daily Melbourne-Hobart service between 7 and 27 March 2010 only.

Visit Jetstar.com to book one of Jetstar’s all day, every day low fares.