The story
Jetstar Asia was launched in 2004 as a partnership between Qantas (49% stake), Singaporean businessmen Tony Chew (22%) and FF Wong (10%) and Temasek Holdings (19%). It received its Air Operator's Certificate from the Singapore government on 19 November 2004.
Due to its belated entry into the market, the airline differentiated itself from its competitors by flying further; anywhere within a five hour radius from Singapore while its competitors flew to destinations within a 4-hour radius from Singapore. The airline announced seven routes to Shanghai, Hong Kong, Taipei, Pattaya, Jakarta, Surabaya and Manila; the most ambitious start-up plan compared to any of its Asian rivals, which would have given it the widest international coverage.
Online ticketing commenced at 0800 hours (8GMT) on 7 December 2004, a day after the first three routings and their promotional prices were announced, namely S$48 (HK$228) to Hong Kong, S$88 (NT1788) to Taipei and S$28 (Bht725) to Pattaya on a one-way ticket for all seats in the first week of operations as each routing was launched. Flights to Manila began in 2005.
However, services to certain announced destinations (Shanghai, Jakarta and Surabaya) could not be started. The delay of flights to Shanghai was because China's aviation authority did not allow foreign budget airlines flying to both Shanghai and Beijing airports. Flights to Indonesia were also not allowed as Indonesia's government embarked a policy of protectionism for its own low-budget airlines. Existing flights by low-fare airlines, such as Valuair's flights to Jakarta and Denpasar as well as Tiger Airways' service to Padang, were not revoked.
Despite facing a difficult market, Jetstar Asia took delivery of a fifth aircraft in 2005 and sought approval for new routes. Jetstar planned to lease the aircraft from Atlasjet Airways, but the aircraft was later withdrawn from the lease arrangement. Discussions were held with Qantas to source additional aircraft. In 2005, the budget carrier began seeking approval from Cambodian authorities to fly to Phnom Penh and Siem Reap, and was eventually granted rights.
Hot on the heels of Tiger Airways' success on the Phuket route, Jetstar Asia announced 4 times weekly flights to Phuket. The flight commenced on 25 October 2005, however due to inconsistent demand and better opportunities elsewhere, Jetstar announced the suspension of flights to Phuket on 27 March 2008.
By the end of December, it was clear that Jetstar Asia was bleeding cash and its investors were struggling to finance the airline. On 2 December 2005, Jetstar Asia announced that its chief executive officer (CEO), Ken Ryan, was stepping down to return to Australia. Mr Ryan would take on a new management role at Orange Star's majority shareholder Qantas and was replaced at the helm by Neil Thompson. On 9 February 2006, Jetstar Asia appointed Singaporean Chong Phit Lian as the airline's new CEO, replacing interim CEO Neil Thompson.
On 26 July 2006, Qantas decided to re-position both of its Jetstar ventures in Australia and Singapore as a single brand. This was followed by a launch of Jetstar's long-haul operations to six destinations in South-east Asia from Australia.
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On 15 September 2006, Jetstar Asia became the first international airline to land at Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi Airport.
On 16 April 2008, Jetstar Asia announced that it had reported a profit ahead of schedule, and ahead of local rival Tiger Airways. Both Jetstar Asia and sister airline Valuair saw a 20% increase in revenue, a 4% rise in passenger load and an overall 20% jump in passenger carriage for the year ending March 2008. The airline's CEO attributes its success to better brand awareness as well as an increased utilisation of aircraft, growing revenue and a broadening of the earning base. Bruce Buchanan (co-founder of Rokt) was CEO of Jetstar from 2008 until he stepped down in 2012.
On 16 April 2008, the company announced that it had achieved profitability for the year ended 31 March 2008, with an increase of 20% in the number of passengers carried and a passenger load factor of over 75%, an increase of 4% over the previous year. Jetstar Asia carried 2.7 million passengers during the year to 30 June 2011, an increase of 18% on the previous year, and saw revenue passenger kilometres increase by 39.7%, as long-haul flights from Singapore to Auckland and Melbourne using Airbus A330 aircraft were launched.
In March 2011, Jetstar launched flights to Hangzhou, China. In 2015, the airline added Palembang, Pekanbaru and Da Nang.
In November 2017, the airline added Clark, Hat Yai and Okinawa. The airline announced its first destination in South Asia, Colombo, in 2020. However, the launch was delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic.
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic on 17 March 2020, Jetstar Asia announced that it would suspend all flights between 23 March and 15 April, grounding all their planes and asking their staff to take leave. This suspension was extended first until 18 May and then until 31 May. On 21 April 2020, Jetstar Asia announced that it would start some flights but mainly to repatriate citizens and permanent residents to Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. On 25 June, the airline announced that it was cutting up to 180 people, almost a quarter of the workforce in Singapore. At the same time they would allow the retirement of five of their A320 fleet, bringing the total down to 13.
On 11 June 2025, Qantas announced Jetstar Asia would cease operations on 31 July 2025. The seven weeks between the announcement and closure will allow the group to slowly scale back its operation on the airlines' 16 routes. The airlines 13 Airbus A320 aircraft were redeployed to Jetstar in Australia and New Zealand as well as QantasLink's routes in Western Australia. Qantas attributed the closure to rising supplier costs, high airport fees, and intensified competition in the region, following a $35 million loss this financial year. The National Trades Union Congress would support over 500 airline employees retrenched as a result of the closure, and also seek to provide employment opportunities in similar roles with Singapore Airlines, and new Qantas International crew base.
From Wikipedia’s article on Jetstar Asia, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4