Jetstar launches flights between Singapore

Budget airline Jetstar launched daily low-fare flight services between Singapore and Beijing on Thursday, bringing the number of its destinations in China to ten. The low-cost carrier will use an Airbus A330 plane configured with 303 economy and business class seats to fly the Singapore- Beijing route, which will be an extension to its current Melbourne- Singapore services. Jetstar uses Singapore as a hub and has been expanding its network in China rapidly to cover both the first-tier and second- tier cities, such as Haikou, Shantou, Guilin, Hangzhou, Guangzhou, Ningbo, Hong Kong, Macao and Taipei. Chong Phit Lian, chief executive officer of Jetstar Asia, said the company was also looking at more potential destinations in China with a target of having 12 destinations in China by the end of 2012, as the outbound travel demand from second-tier coastal cities such as Ningbo, Hangzhou and Shantou grows. The economics of the Chinese market is changing very fast, and Jetstar sees strong potentials from second-tier cities in even the inland areas such as Chengdu, Chongqing and Changsha, she said. "We believe these are the growth cities and the outbound interest will be growing. The way the economy is growing in these cities is becoming an interest for us," Chong said. David Hall, chief executive of Jetstar Australia and New Zealand, told the press conference in Singapore that the new route was expected to stimulate travel demand by increasing inbound visitors from Australia, as the number of Australian visitors to China are showing double digit growth this year.