Jetstar has announced it is expanding its presence in South Australia and will establish a new cabin crew and pilot base in Adelaide to pave the way for additional services.

More than 120 new positions will be created, on top of 40 existing jobs, with Jetstar to base four A320 aircraft in Adelaide from 31 March 2014.

Jetstar Australia and New Zealand CEO David Hall said the time was right to expand the airline’s presence in South Australia and provide extra services from Adelaide.

“This month, Jetstar will begin direct services from Adelaide to Auckland and non-stop flights from Adelaide to Bali,” Mr Hall said.

“Basing four aircraft at Adelaide will allow us to expand our schedule and add one extra daily flight between Melbourne and Adelaide and Sydney and Adelaide respectively.

“Our presence in Adelaide has more than doubled in the past four years and we believe the establishment of a dedicated crew base will provide a solid foundation to continue to grow low fares from the capital of South Australia.

“Next year we look forward to celebrating ten years of continuous flying to and from Adelaide.”

Jetstar operates up to 88 domestic services each week from Adelaide and from December will offer up to six international departures per week to Bali and Auckland.

From tomorrow, Jetstar will start recruiting for 40 pilot positions, 70 cabin crew team members and a dozen ground staff.

“We expect to fill some positions with transfers from other bases as well as new team members joining Jetstar,” Mr Hall added.

Three of the aircraft to be based at Adelaide will be transferred from Darwin with an additional aircraft being moved from Melbourne to support the airline’s flying from Adelaide.