Wirraway
19th Jul 2004, 15:35
Tues "The Australian"
Profit on horizon at Jetstar
By Steve Creedy, Aviation writer
July 20, 2004
JETSTAR chief executive Alan Joyce expects the start-up to become profitable this month as it moves through the 500,000-passenger mark and sets its sights on new markets.
Mr Joyce said yesterday he was happy with how the airline was performing and said it was already adding capacity to destinations such as Victoria's Avalon and Queensland's Proserpine because passenger loads were good.
"We're going to be announcing more capacity in the next few weeks on a wide range of routes," he said yesterday as he launched the airline's first 177-seat Airbus A320 aircraft.
"That gives the indication of how well performance is going because we're now into a growth phase and we're adding capacity because our loads are full."
Jetstar will celebrate its 500,000th passenger this week and says its market share is about 7 per cent.
The airline said last week it was filling 76 per cent of its seats with paying passengers and its load factors were ahead of expectations.
Mr Joyce was more cautious yesterday, saying only that the 500,000 passenger milestone met the carrier's expectations.
The airline intends to build to a fleet of 23 A320s by May, 2006, with the first Airbus entering service today.
It is one of two now in the country and a third is due by August, with three more arriving by the end of the year.
The airline will initially fly the A320 on busy routes from Sydney Airport to the Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast, Hamilton Island and Avalon Airport.
The first three planes are leased from Singapore Aircraft Leasing Enterprise with the remaining 20 ordered directly from Airbus.
Although the A320s have less leg room than Qantas economy class seats, they are wider and Jetstar claims passengers have more "personal space".
Mr Joyce said the A320 was exceptionally well-suited to the Australian domestic market and would play a critical role in allowing Jetstar to further lower its cost base.
He said the A320's ability to board and disembark passengers by both forward and rear stairs would further contribute to Jetstar's operational efficiencies.
Meanwhile, the Transport Workers Union will meet with Jetstar ground handling contractor Express Ground Handling to discuss union worries about manning levels, rostering and workplace safety.
The TWU claimed on the weekend that Jetstar ground crew were facing sweatshop conditions with shifts of up to 19 hours and lower manning levels than at competitor Virgin Blue.
Mr Joyce said yesterday he believed the airline's ground handling agencies operated under good conditions.
"We're happy with how they're performing; happy with the staff that are employed," he said.
"There's a lot of misleading information on it."
Mr Joyce said the number of staff Jetstar employed to turn around an aircraft was proportionately higher than the carrier's competitors because its aircraft were smaller.
============================================
Profit on horizon at Jetstar
By Steve Creedy, Aviation writer
July 20, 2004
JETSTAR chief executive Alan Joyce expects the start-up to become profitable this month as it moves through the 500,000-passenger mark and sets its sights on new markets.
Mr Joyce said yesterday he was happy with how the airline was performing and said it was already adding capacity to destinations such as Victoria's Avalon and Queensland's Proserpine because passenger loads were good.
"We're going to be announcing more capacity in the next few weeks on a wide range of routes," he said yesterday as he launched the airline's first 177-seat Airbus A320 aircraft.
"That gives the indication of how well performance is going because we're now into a growth phase and we're adding capacity because our loads are full."
Jetstar will celebrate its 500,000th passenger this week and says its market share is about 7 per cent.
The airline said last week it was filling 76 per cent of its seats with paying passengers and its load factors were ahead of expectations.
Mr Joyce was more cautious yesterday, saying only that the 500,000 passenger milestone met the carrier's expectations.
The airline intends to build to a fleet of 23 A320s by May, 2006, with the first Airbus entering service today.
It is one of two now in the country and a third is due by August, with three more arriving by the end of the year.
The airline will initially fly the A320 on busy routes from Sydney Airport to the Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast, Hamilton Island and Avalon Airport.
The first three planes are leased from Singapore Aircraft Leasing Enterprise with the remaining 20 ordered directly from Airbus.
Although the A320s have less leg room than Qantas economy class seats, they are wider and Jetstar claims passengers have more "personal space".
Mr Joyce said the A320 was exceptionally well-suited to the Australian domestic market and would play a critical role in allowing Jetstar to further lower its cost base.
He said the A320's ability to board and disembark passengers by both forward and rear stairs would further contribute to Jetstar's operational efficiencies.
Meanwhile, the Transport Workers Union will meet with Jetstar ground handling contractor Express Ground Handling to discuss union worries about manning levels, rostering and workplace safety.
The TWU claimed on the weekend that Jetstar ground crew were facing sweatshop conditions with shifts of up to 19 hours and lower manning levels than at competitor Virgin Blue.
Mr Joyce said yesterday he believed the airline's ground handling agencies operated under good conditions.
"We're happy with how they're performing; happy with the staff that are employed," he said.
"There's a lot of misleading information on it."
Mr Joyce said the number of staff Jetstar employed to turn around an aircraft was proportionately higher than the carrier's competitors because its aircraft were smaller.
============================================