Wirraway
1st Sep 2004, 12:28
AAP
Jetstar blows its trumpet
September 1, 2004 - 7:14PM
Qantas no-frills offshoot Jetstar says it needs to improve its communication to customers about the benefits of its low-cost approach.
Jetstar chief executive Alan Joyce told a Committee for Economic Development of Australia luncheon, that Jetstar would no longer be taking a backward step against criticism that it was not a quality, low-cost, low-fare, passenger-friendly operation.
The airline has copped some criticism from passengers, for example, over its check-in desks closing 30 minutes before a flight.
Mr Joyce said Jetstar, which was launched in May this year, would soon be launching a new advertising campaign featuring actor Magda Szubanski as Julie the Jetstar girl.
Mr Joyce said Jetstar could have done better in its marketing since its launch.
"One of the things is getting to consumers the positives associated with some of the policies, you know, the benefits that on-time performance gives them and why 30-minute close-out was important to us," he told reporters.
"Certainly for us, I think there was a lot that we could have communicated better, and we're very much going to go out and communicate through the advertising campaign about why that's important to us."
Mr Joyce said a new campaign starting at the weekend would be "relatively inexpensive" but declined to give a figure.
"We certainly don't spend as much as Virgin (rival budget airline Virgin Blue) on marketing but we'll recover some market position with this one," he said.
Mr Joyce said Jetstar would use Magda Szubanski a lot more.
"She's been on contract and continues to be on contract. We probably didn't use her as much as we could have," he said.
Mr Joyce also said that Melbourne-based Jetstar would expand its reach to the far north and west of Australia by the end of this year or early next year.
Jetstar was in talks to get access to the airport in Adelaide.
"We're hoping to have a look at Adelaide before the end of the year or early next year," Mr Joyce said.
Jetstar was also looking at Darwin and Alice Springs in the Northern Territory.
"That could happen sometime in 2005," Mr Joyce said.
"We also have the commitment to look at destinations like Townsville and Broome and they'll probably be towards the end of 2005 and Perth around the same time."
Mr Joyce said the company would be taking delivery of 23 aircraft over the next two years so there was a lot of opportunities for the airline to continue to expand westwards.
Jetstar would be focusing on expansion of services within Australia and any expansion to overseas routes could be years away.
Mr Joyce said Jetstar was committed to using both the Avalon (near Geelong) and Melbourne airports as bases for flight operations, but Melbourne airport would continue to be the biggest part of Jetstar operations for some time.
Mr Joyce said Jetstar had managed to offset recent higher oil prices through a fuel surcharge.
"We still managed to maintain significant passenger growth even with our fuel surcharge," he said.
Qantas shares were two cents lower at $3.39 on Wednesday.
© 2004 AAP
==========================================
Jetstar blows its trumpet
September 1, 2004 - 7:14PM
Qantas no-frills offshoot Jetstar says it needs to improve its communication to customers about the benefits of its low-cost approach.
Jetstar chief executive Alan Joyce told a Committee for Economic Development of Australia luncheon, that Jetstar would no longer be taking a backward step against criticism that it was not a quality, low-cost, low-fare, passenger-friendly operation.
The airline has copped some criticism from passengers, for example, over its check-in desks closing 30 minutes before a flight.
Mr Joyce said Jetstar, which was launched in May this year, would soon be launching a new advertising campaign featuring actor Magda Szubanski as Julie the Jetstar girl.
Mr Joyce said Jetstar could have done better in its marketing since its launch.
"One of the things is getting to consumers the positives associated with some of the policies, you know, the benefits that on-time performance gives them and why 30-minute close-out was important to us," he told reporters.
"Certainly for us, I think there was a lot that we could have communicated better, and we're very much going to go out and communicate through the advertising campaign about why that's important to us."
Mr Joyce said a new campaign starting at the weekend would be "relatively inexpensive" but declined to give a figure.
"We certainly don't spend as much as Virgin (rival budget airline Virgin Blue) on marketing but we'll recover some market position with this one," he said.
Mr Joyce said Jetstar would use Magda Szubanski a lot more.
"She's been on contract and continues to be on contract. We probably didn't use her as much as we could have," he said.
Mr Joyce also said that Melbourne-based Jetstar would expand its reach to the far north and west of Australia by the end of this year or early next year.
Jetstar was in talks to get access to the airport in Adelaide.
"We're hoping to have a look at Adelaide before the end of the year or early next year," Mr Joyce said.
Jetstar was also looking at Darwin and Alice Springs in the Northern Territory.
"That could happen sometime in 2005," Mr Joyce said.
"We also have the commitment to look at destinations like Townsville and Broome and they'll probably be towards the end of 2005 and Perth around the same time."
Mr Joyce said the company would be taking delivery of 23 aircraft over the next two years so there was a lot of opportunities for the airline to continue to expand westwards.
Jetstar would be focusing on expansion of services within Australia and any expansion to overseas routes could be years away.
Mr Joyce said Jetstar was committed to using both the Avalon (near Geelong) and Melbourne airports as bases for flight operations, but Melbourne airport would continue to be the biggest part of Jetstar operations for some time.
Mr Joyce said Jetstar had managed to offset recent higher oil prices through a fuel surcharge.
"We still managed to maintain significant passenger growth even with our fuel surcharge," he said.
Qantas shares were two cents lower at $3.39 on Wednesday.
© 2004 AAP
==========================================