[BAG]

Jetstar will further expand its domestic Australian network with the launch of double daily Melbourne-Brisbane A320 services to commence from 1 July 2010 from Melbourne Airport.

The new services will provide Jetstar passengers with a choice of gateways into and out of Melbourne with a total of four daily services to now be operated from Brisbane to Melbourne (Avalon) Airport and Melbourne Airport.

Further extending the Qantas Group’s existing two flying brands in the Australian market, Jetstar will complement Qantas’ existing high-frequency full services CityFlyer offering on the route, as well as continuing to operate double daily services from Melbourne (Avalon) Airport.

The extra services mean the airline will offer 128,000 new seats annually between the cities. Jetstar Chief Executive Officer Bruce Buchanan said the airline was committed to offering Australian holiday makers traveling between Melbourne and Brisbane the lowest fares and award-winning service.

“Customers can be assured of every day low fares between Melbourne-Brisbane covered by the Jetstar Price Beat Guarantee, which means we won’t be beaten by our competitors on price,” Mr Buchan said “Applications such as our Low Fares Finder at Jetstar.com mean that it is easier than ever to determine when the lowest fares are available over a one-month period when flying Jetstar.”

The flight launch follows Jetstar’s recent announcement to introduce an extra 700,000 future seats on an annualized basis during the first half of 2010, representing the entry of four new A320 aircraft into the Jetstar fleet which will also support its future Melbourne-Brisbane services.

“Holiday makers heading to Queensland are major winners of the additional capacity that Jetstar will introduce next year, with Jetstar’s domestic operations to Queensland to further grow by more than 25 per cent as a result,” Mr Buchanan said.

Jetstar will offer a future 440 weekly interstate or intrastate flights across Queensland to Brisbane, Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast, Townsville, Cairns, Mackay, Whitsunday Coast, Hamilton Island and Rockhampton.