The Qantas Group announced the closure of its intra-regional airline Jetstar Asia today, 11th June.
Despite this, Jetstar Asia will continue operations for seven more weeks from today, terminating its services on 31st July 2025.
This decision on the part of Qantas is in line with its current restructuring initiative in support of its fleet renewal programme; likewise, it will serve to strengthen the company’s core businesses in Oceania.
Through the closure of Jetstar Asia, the Qantas Group will be able to recycle up to $500 million for use in its fleet renewal.
Following this historic announcement, Qantas Group CEO Vanessa Hudson remarked that Jetstar Asia has been a pioneering force in the Asian aviation market for over two decades and has made air travel more accessible to customers throughout the region, particularly in Southeast Asia.
Hudson said: “We are incredibly proud of the Jetstar Asia team and the work they have done to deliver low fares, strong operational performance and exceptional customer service. This is a very tough day for them, so I want to sincerely thank and acknowledge our incredible Jetstar Asia team who should be very proud of the impact they have had on aviation in the region over the past two decades.”
What happens now?
According to an official release published by the Qantas Group earlier today, Jetstar Asia’s 13 Airbus A320 aircraft will be redeployed in stages between Australia and New Zealand.
This will enable the company to offer more low fares for passengers whilst generating jobs between the two nations.
It should likewise be noted that only 16 of Jetstar Asia’s intra-regional routes, specifically the ones operated from its base in Singapore, will be impacted by its closure.
Operations for Jetstar Airways’ domestic and international operations in Australia and New Zealand as well as Jetstar Japan will continue as normal.
Also, Jetstar Airways will continue to fly from Australia into Asia including to all its popular destinations across Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, Japan and South Korea.
In its official statement, Qantas Group advised Jetstar Asia customers with existing bookings on cancelled flights that they will be offered full refunds; likewise, the company will look into the possibility of rebooking customers onto other airlines.
Meanwhile, Jetstar Asia employees directly impacted by the closure will be provided redundancy benefits as well as employment support services.
Qantas is also actively working to find job opportunities for these employees across the Group and with other airlines in the region.
Despite all these, Singapore will remain a critical hub for the Qantas Group as its third largest international airport.
Qantas will continue to offer connections from Singapore through nearly 20 codeshare and interline partners to a variety of destinations across Asia.
With the support of Qantas, Jetstar Asia will continue to meet its financial obligations to suppliers, employees and customers.
