On of the main options for travellers from Asia to Australia and viceversa is Jetstar Airways. The airline has grown significantly over the past 2 decades and is now a major player in the budget market many routes connecting Australia to Asia. In this post we’ll take a closer look at the composition of the Jetstar fleet as of March 2023.
Jetstar’s Origins
Jetstar started operations in 2004 as a response from the Qantas group to Virgin Blue Airlines. Virgin had entered the market with its budget carrier in 2000 threatening Qantas’ dominant position. The natural response for QF was to launch its own low cost subsidiary. That subsidiary is Jetstar which commenced operations in 2004 and has since grown into a go to choice for many travellers making their way from and to Australia.
The Distinction of The 3 Jetstar
When talking about Jetstar we must make a distinction. The airline is divided into 3 different standalone companies:
- Jetstar Japan
- Jetstar
- Jetstar Asia
The first of the 3 clearly operates from bases in Japan, the latter from its Singapore Changi Airport, while the second of the list is the original Australian based airline. The Jetstar fleet is so divided between these 3 distinct divisions.
The Australian Jetstar Fleet
The original JQ fleet is also the largest of the pack and the only one that features wide body aircraft. This division operates flights to destinations in southeast Asia along with South Korea and Japan from Australia. As of March 2023 Jetstar Australia operates:
- 55 Airbus A320-200
- 5 Airbus A321neo
- 6 Airbus A321-200
- 10 Boeing 787-8
The ceo versions of the Airbus A320 and A321 are mainly used for short and medium haul flights. On the other hand the A321neo, of which Jetstar is receiving more of, are also used for long range flights. Both neo and ceo A320s feature a 1 class configuration with all economy class seats.
The only wide body plane of the fleet, the Boeing 787-8, also offers a different class of travel. The Jetstar Boeing 787-8 is configured in a 2 class layout with:
- 21 Business Class Seats
- 314 Economy Class Seats
You’ll see the 787s deployed on longer sectors such as Sydney to Seoul or Tokyo.
The Jetstar Japan Fleet
The Jetstar Japan fleet is the second in size of the group. The Japanese division of the airline operates a fleet of 21 planes, based in Osaka, Tokyo and Nagoya. The fleet features:
- 18 Airbus A320-200
- 3 Airbus A321neo
The JQ Asia Fleet
The smallest fleet of the 3 is the one based in Singapore’s Changi Airport. The Jetstar Asia fleet only consists of 7 planes, all narrow body aircraft. Specifically:
- 7 Airbus A320-200
