Jetstar and Cairns
What Cairns does not need is Jetstar operating to Singapore via Darwin. What Cairns does need is more full service carriers like Singapore Airlines, Malaysia and Thai Airways flying directly into and out of Cairns to their respective hubs in Asia and connecting with their flights to Europe, Asia or the USA.
Qantas has effectively abandoned Cairns as an international gateway and replacing its services to Nagoya and Osaka with Jetstar will not lure Japanese visitors because Jetstar is a second rate option and the Japanese wont buy it.
Just as an example CX flies into and out of Cairns six times a week, Qantas none. Want to fly Perth to Bangkok on QF first proceed to Sydney and catch the one service a day from Australia to Thailand, cost $1900 flight time 18 hours. Of course Thai flies three times a week directly cost $900, flight time 7hours.
Thai schedules SYD three times a day, MEL twice a day, BNE twice a day,
PER three times a week. Qantas schedules from Australia to Bangkok once a day from Sydney.
Cathay schedules from Adelaide/Cairns to Hongkong, six times a week Qantas none.
It is apparent that Qantas no longer serves the needs of the Australian travelling public and it is time for other full service carriers to take up the slack both domestically and internationally. Jetstar is a dog.