Jetstar expands to 8 destinations from Singapore in August

Note: Jetstar’s proposed flights to and from Yangon from 14th August 2020 did not go ahead.

Most of the schedule increases we’ve been updating our readers on over the last few months have been for Singapore Airlines, SilkAir and Scoot flights, which have been slowly but progressively increasing since hitting rock bottom in April and May 2020.

There hasn’t been much news of progress for Singapore’s smallest airline, Jetstar Asia, which is part of the Qantas Group and has been the only local carrier so far to confirm a permanent downsizing due to COVID-19.

What’s been happening at Jetstar?

The low-cost carrier, which has a fleet of 18 Airbus A320 aircraft, was the first in Singapore to effectively completely ground its aircraft and temporarily cease operations from 23rd March 2020, for an initial three-week period.

Not long afterwards, Scoot followed suit with a two-week stoppage over roughly the same period.

Jetstar was able to restart some flights in late April 2020, with twice weekly services to Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur plus a once-weekly flight to Manila, for a total of five weekly departures from Changi.

From 1st August there was a minor increase to twice weekly on the Manila route, meaning there are currently six weekly departures (12 weekly flights in total).

Like many other airlines this represents a 98% reduction by flight volumes for the airline, with that skeleton schedule to and from three cities still currently in force.

Jetstar Asia usually operates to 24 destinations from Singapore, including flights to Australia, Taiwan, Japan, Philippines, Vietnam and Indonesia. It is (usually) the sole carrier flying between Changi and both Sanya and Okinawa.

August 2020 expansion

This month Jetstar will expand its flight schedule and network, adding an additional six cities and increasing from 12 to 26 flights per week.

  Newly added this month

Edit: Flights to Yangon were planned but did not go ahead.

Effectively Ho Chi Minh, Jakarta, Penang and Yangon flights commence next week (w/c 10th August), while Clark and Medan flights commence the following week (w/c 17th August).

Among local carriers, Jetstar will join Scoot in serving Clark and Penang, Singapore Airlines on the Ho Chi Minh and Jakarta routes and SilkAir to and from Medan.

However, Jetstar will be the sole airline operating from Singapore to Yangon.

Schedules

Here’s how the route map looks from the third week in August onwards, once these additional flights have commenced.

Flight numbers and days of operation are as shown below.

Singapore to Bangkok flights (3K515 on Wednesdays and Sundays) are cargo-only due to Thai government restrictions.

Singapore to Ho Chi Minh flights (3K555 on Saturdays) are cargo-only due to Vietnam government restrictions.

* Sunday and Friday Manila flights added from 8th August and 14th August respectively.

Edit: Flights to Yangon were planned but did not go ahead.

All these flights are bookable through the Jetstar website, with the exception of Yangon services which only reflect in GDS at this stage but don’t appear to be for sale yet.

Jetstar is resizing due to COVID-19

Last month Jetstar Asia became the first (and so far only) Singapore-based airline to announce job losses, as it confirmed a reduction in fleet size from 18 to 13 aircraft by February 2021 due to the impact of COVID-19 on its operations.

This forms part of what the airline describes as “a detailed recovery plan”.

The airline has now made 167 staff redundant, slightly less than the 180 it initially estimated, with most leaving under “a voluntary process”.

Singapore Airlines and Scoot have not yet revealed what impact COVID-19 will have on their aircraft fleets, stating in Q1 financial results that the group is “reviewing the potential shape and size of our network over the longer term given Covid-19 and its impact on our passenger traffic and revenue, which will provide better clarity on the fleet size and mix that the Group will need”.

What if your Jetstar flight has been cancelled?

Jetstar is offering travel credit vouchers to customers whose flights have been cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Request your voucher through the Manage My Booking portal here, by following these steps:

• Enter your booking number and last name
• Click on the ‘find out more’ button
• Select ‘check flight options’ button
• Click ‘view other options’ button
• Select ‘request reimbursement’

The travel credit voucher is a multi-use voucher and can be redeemed up to the value stated on the voucher across multiple Jetstar bookings, within 12 months of issue. A fare difference, if any, will apply. Customers will receive a voucher within two weeks of making the request.

Note: Passengers with a 3K (Jetstar Asia) booking to/from the Philippines, Taiwan (China), Sri Lanka or Japan are requested to wait to receive a letter from Jetstar regarding available options before visiting Manage My Booking.

September onwards

Jetstar is still loading its normal flight schedule from 1st September 2020 onwards, however this is subject to significant further reductions based on the COVID-19 situation closer to the time.

We expect a similar schedule of nine routes will continue to operate next month.

Summary

26 weekly flights is around 5% of Jetstar Asia’s usual capacity by flight volumes (in August 2019 the airline flew 574 flights per week).

This expansion of services to nine cities is a positive step for the airline, which plans to return in a smaller shape and size after COVID-19.

Meanwhile other Singapore-based carriers are operating similar flight volumes relative to their usual full network levels:

• Singapore Airlines: ~8%
• SilkAir: ~2%
• Scoot: ~3%

You can also check our recent analysis of the latest Singapore Airlines / SilkAir flight schedules for September 2020 and Scoot flight schedules for August 2020.

(Cover Photo: PomInOz / Shutterstock)