This was published 3 years ago
Alan Joyce delivers on cheap flights: $19 Jetstar fares and triple points on Qantas flights
By Josh Dye
Jetstar's ultra-cheap fares are designed to kick-start air travel.Credit: Jason South
Qantas has delivered on chief executive Alan Joyce's promise of ultra-cheap airfares with the budget airline launching a sale to kick-start air travel again.
On Friday morning Jetstar put 10,000 seats on sale for $19 across 22 routes. All seats sold out within four hours.
A further 190,000 seats will be available at reduced prices. Jetstar reported that 70,000 of those seats had sold within five hours of going on sale, with airfare bookings 40 times higher than on a typical day.
In addition to the Jetstar sale, all Qantas flights from June 27 until October 31 will earn triple points, a move designed to coax the airline's 13 million frequent flyer program members back into the sky. The flights must be booked by June 24 to obtain the bonus.
The $19 Jetstar fares included flights from Sydney to Melbourne, and between both cities to Cairns, the Gold Coast, the Sunshine Coast, Ballina-Byron and Adelaide.
The sale periods are mostly outside school holidays.
Passengers flying on both airlines should expect full flights, with air travel exempt from the federal government's social distancing regulations. Masks are provided but are optional to wear.
Mr Joyce said the group's passenger numbers across the domestic network had doubled in the past week from 32,000 to 64,000.
"There is huge pent up demand for air travel, with people wanting to get away after months of being stuck at home," he said.
The airline reported flights have sold out between Sydney and Cairns from July 10, the proposed date for Queensland to reopen its border, with extra services now being added.
"We know that these low fares will encourage even more people to get on a flight to take a short holiday or visit family and friends," Mr Joyce said.
After operating a skeleton network of 5 per cent of flights, Qantas is scaling up its flight network to 40 per cent of pre-pandemic levels by the end of July.
The group plans to reach 15 per cent capacity by the end of June, or about 300 return flights per week. Qantas and Jetstar flights between Sydney and Melbourne would increase from 12 return flights a week to 67 by the end of June.
Jetstar will add sale fares for routes to and from Western Australia and Tasmania when their borders reopen.
$19 sale routes and dates:
Melbourne – Sydney Aug 4 – Sept 17; Oct 6 – 31
Sydney – Gold Coast July 21 – Sept 14; Oct 13 – 31
Melbourne – Gold Coast July 14 – Sept 17; Oct 6 – 31
Brisbane – Sydney July 21 – Sept 17; Oct 6 – 31
Melbourne – Ballina July 14 – Sept 17; Oct 6 – 31
Sydney – Ballina July 21 – Sept 17; Oct 6 – 31
Melbourne – Cairns July 14 – Sept 17; Oct 6 – 31
Sydney – Cairns July 21 – Sept 17; Oct 6 – 31
Melbourne – Sunshine Coast July 14 – 24 Sept; Oct 13 – 31
Sydney – Sunshine Coast July 16 – Sept 24; Oct 13 – 31
Melbourne – Newcastle July 21 – Sept 17; Oct 6 – 31
Adelaide – Melbourne July 21 – Sept 17; Oct 7 – 31
Adelaide – Sydney July 21 – Sept 17; Oct 7 – 31
See also: Masks on, seats full: Our reporter flies the Sydney-Melbourne route
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