Jetstar to reinstate Osaka – Cairns flights
Posted by editor (editor) on Dec 10 2009
2009 >>

Jetstar’s announcement that it will resume direct flights between Osaka and Cairns from next April was fantastic news for the region, Tourism Minister Peter Lawlor said today.

Jetstar will also grow its domestic operations for Cairns by doubling its Melbourne-Cairns services from single to twice daily starting 1 April 2010.

Mr Lawlor said the announcement that four weekly Jetstar flights would add up to 1200 seats into Tropical North Queensland per week was a positive sign for the future of the region’s most important international market.

“The Japan market remains Tropical North Queensland’s largest international market with 126,000 Japanese visitors spending 700,000 nights in the region in the year ended June 2009,” he said.

“Japanese visitors stay an average of 5.6 nights in Tropical North Queensland and overall spend $1885 each on their Queensland holiday.”

Parliamentary Secretary for Tourism and Member for Barron River Steve Wettenhall said the Japanese market into Tropical North Queensland had been affected by a range of issues in recent years including an unfavourable exchange rate, global economic conditions, terrorism and global pandemics.

These and other commercial factors contributed to the Qantas Group’s decision to withdraw direct flights from Osaka into Cairns at the end of 2008.

“Since then, Tourism Queensland and the State Government, along with Cairns International Airport and Tourism Tropical North Queensland, have been working with the Qantas Group to reinstate the flights,” Mr Wettenhall said.

“I am happy to say that thanks to the cooperative efforts of all of these parties, these negotiations have been successful and as of April 2010, Jetstar’s direct flights from western Japan to Tropical North Queensland will resume,” he said.

Mr Lawlor added that western Japan was a key source market for Queensland and the reinstatement of the Jetstar flights would mean up to 63,000 passengers would be able to fly directly into the region each year.

“The convenience of direct flights means more Japanese visitors will be able to spend more time and ultimately more money in Tropical North Queensland,” he said.

“Tourism Queensland will work with Jetstar and key partners including Tourism Tropical North Queensland and Tourism Australia over the coming 12 months on a range of marketing initiatives aimed at encouraging Japanese visitors to book a Tropical North Queensland holiday.

“Japan continues to be a core international market for the Tropical North and ensuring sufficient airline capacity into the region is a crucial link in the chain.

“This announcement is proof of what can be achieved when all of the partners sit at the table together to negotiate what is a win-win deal for all,” Mr Lawlor said.

Last changed: Dec 10 2009 at 10:23 AM