C.Foo 3 Report post Posted July 30, 2009 Jetstar on course for the long haul July 31, 2009 12:00am .JETSTAR is tightening the Qantas group's stranglehold on air travel to and from Australia and is now on track to rival its parent. Jetstar has increased its share of the long-haul travel market from 6.1 per cent to 9 per cent in the year to May, helping offset a 3.8 per cent fall in Qantas numbers, mainly in the business and first class markets. The Qantas group commands 31.4 per cent of the total market. Two of its rivals, Singapore Airlines and Air New Zealand, have been leapfrogged by Jetstar and are now in third and fourth position respectively. Commenting after the release of the latest numbers from the Department of Transport, aviation expert Peter Harbison said that in time it was likely Jetstar would expand on to new routes while Qantas serviced the core London, Los Angeles, South Africa and the traditional stopping-off points, Singapore and Hong Kong. Mr Harbison, the chief executive of the Centre for Pacific Aviation, said the growth strategy would have been further advanced had Boeing not defaulted on an agreement to deliver 15 new long-haul 787 Dreamliners to Jetstar 18 months ago. "If that had occurred Jetstar would have either been flying or well advanced in its plan to go into Europe," Mr Harbison said. Qantas continued to retain its overall long-term market leadership with 22.4 per cent of passengers, followed by Jetstar at 9 per cent, with arch rival Singapore Airlines third with 8.8 per cent of the market, followed by Air New Zealand with 8.7 per cent and Emirates with 8 per cent. The previous month, Jetstar ranked fifth behind Emirates. In May alone Jetstar carried 158,702 passengers, a 48 per cent improvement on the same period last year, according to the airline. Virgin Blue, which expanded its Pacific Blue services to offset a slowdown in domestic ticket sales caused by the economic crisis, was ranked sixth with 4. 6 per cent of Australian long-haul passenger movements during the 12 months to the end of May, finishing behind Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific which had 5.7 per cent. Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce has previously flagged that Jetstar's growth is helping to keep the carrier's accounts in the black and that he expects to post a full-year profit next month despite falling demand for seats in the premium first and business class cabins. Jetstar chief executive Bruce Buchanan said the May result proved sustained performance, innovative development of new markets and how the Qantas twin-brand strategy had continued to achieve productive outcomes. Jetstar recently began daily Sydney-Auckland and Auckland-Gold Coast services as well as daily flights between the Gold Coast and Tokyo, and has flagged plans to grow services to New Zealand, Japan, Singapore and to South East Asian destinations via Perth and Darwin and from a new hub in Singapore. What's happening at Qantas is in marked contrast to the grim situation faced by cash-strapped British Airways and to Germany's Lufthansa, which reported a first-half loss. Airlines globally are seeking to raise cash to stay solvent. In BA's latest belt-tightening exercise, it has scrapped all free meals apart from breakfast on short-haul flights to save pound stg. 22 million (A$44 million) a year. The economic crisis and an exodus by premium seat passengers forced Lufthansa this week to admit a first-half loss, with core earnings down 8 million euros ($A11.3 million) on last year's first-half result. The airline expects a turnaround in its second-half performance but says that depends on improved demand and the direction of fuel prices. Industry body IATA said it expects the world's airlines to lose $9 billion this year. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
