Singapore now has its first low cost carrier connection with Beijing, as Jetstar’s daily services to the Chinese capital take off today.

CEO of the Jetstar Group Bruce Buchanan said the new route – the Jetstar Group’s 10th into Greater China – was expected to stimulate several travel categories.

“Across our Pan-Asian network, Jetstar’s goal is create new travel demand through low fares,” Mr Buchanan said.

“Low fares tend to increase leisure travel as people take holidays to places that would otherwise be out of reach, as well as visiting friends and relatives more often.

“In a more cautious economic climate, we tend to see an increase in business travel on Jetstar as companies look to reduce costs.

“There will be a lot of people in both Beijing and Singapore who will use this service to visit family more often, and a lot of businesses that will use it to lower overheads,” he added.

Jetstar’s all day, every day low fares for travel between Singapore and Beijing (one way, including all fees and taxes) start from SGD248 for Economy Starter and SGD598 for Business Class. Sale fares on the inaugural six hour flight were as low as SGD98 one way for Economy Starter, inclusive of fees and taxes.

Mr Buchanan said the introduction of much lower fares on a high demand route would further strengthen Singapore’s status as Jetstar’s gateway in Asia.

“The growth of our Singapore hub is strengthened by our maturing product. As well as lower fares, we offer an expanding network, a choice of business or economy class and on-board innovations like iPads.”

CEO of Jetstar’s Australia & New Zealand operations David Hall, in Singapore for the inaugural Beijing flight, said the new route was expected to increase inbound visitors from Australia.

“Numbers of Australian visitors to China are showing double digit growth this year and this route encourages people travelling to Beijing to see what Singapore has to offer as well,” said Mr Hall.

Jetstar will operate an Airbus A330 on its Singapore-Beijing service, configured for 303 passengers across business and economy classes. Jetstar will be the first low cost carrier to fly the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, which will gradually replace its A330s from mid-2013.

Jetstar’s Singapore hub now connects to 27 destinations, including 14 in South East Asia, 10 in China and three in Australia.

Singapore-Beijing Route Fare sale information

Jetstar is celebrating the start of Singapore-Beijing services with one-way Economy Starter sale fares for SGD128 and Business Starter sale fare for SGD398. The sale commences at 12:01am on 24 November 2011 and runs until 11.59pm on 24 November 2011 unless seats sell out prior.

This sale is valid for travel from 12 April until 23 May 2012. Not available all flights all days. Conditions apply. To book and for more details visit Jetstar.com

Jetstar’s daily flight schedule

Note: the flight will originate in Melbourne as an extension of the Melbourne – Singapore return service.

Melbourne-Beijing (via Singapore):

• Melbourne – Singapore - JQ7 12:00 – 16:50
• Singapore – Beijing - JQ7 18:35 – 00:50 (+1)

Beijing-Melbourne (via Singapore):

• Beijing – Singapore - JQ8 02:50 – 09:30
• Singapore – Melbourne - JQ8 20:50 – 06:55