Japan off the menu for Jetstar
A report in the Sydney Morning Herald says that barely four months since launching flights into Osaka, speculation persists Jetstar is considering scaling back its services to Japan.
The latest traffic figures from Japan Airlines illustrate that Japan is the main money-losing long-haul market into Australia, costing Qantas and its low-cost spawn a bundle.
JAL has reported Oceania (aka Australia) was the worst performing of its international and domestic routes in May, with the airline filling only 51.3 per cent of seats.
Given it is one route dependent principally on outbound Japanese demand, the recent slump in the yen to an 18-year low against the Australian dollar does not augur well for the leisure-oriented Jetstar.
The airline had originally hoped Japanese holidaymakers would make up 90% cent of its passengers, but Australia is becoming a pricey place for the Japanese to holiday in.
The Qantas el-cheapo offshoot has already conceded the low yen (now at ¥105 for each Australian dollar) has been hurting, since it had based its business plan on the currency staying around ¥85 to the dollar.
Jetstar’s original traffic figures for March were not good either, with the airline filling only 55 per cent of seats (even with the aid of those bargain launch fares).
Report by The Mole and the Sydney Morning Herald
John Alwyn-Jones
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