World

Jetstar Now Has Four A321neos Meeting Peak Season Demand

Written by on January 17, 2023

Two more A321LRs are in service with Jetstar, with another 14 to come over the next eighteen months.

Photo: Jetstar

Australian low-fare carrier Jetstar has quietly added two more new Airbus A321neos to its fleet, just in time for the peak holiday season. The Qantas Group airline now has four A321LRs and will progressively add more during this year and into 2024, ultimately inducting eighteen into its fleet.

While the first A321LR arrived to a rock-star welcome at Jetstar’s Melbourne Airport (MEL) home base in July, these latest two slipped quietly into their new home on Christmas Day. The pair carry registration VH-OFP and VH-OFQ and manufacturer serial numbers 11102 and 11189, respectively. The two Airbus A321LRs flew in formation from the Airbus delivery facility in Hamburg, Germany, on what is becoming the standard ferry flight to Melbourne with stops in Bengaluru, India and Perth on Australia’s west coast.

SIMPLEFLYING VIDEO OF THE DAY

It’s a well-worn flight path now

Indicative of the ferry flight, VH-OFQ departed Hamburg Finkenwerder Airport (XFW) at 08:52 on December 23rd and, after a 9:11 hour sector, landed in India at Bengaluru Kempegowda International (BLR) at 22:32. According to Flightradar24.com, it departed BLR the next day at 12:47 and briefly touched down in Perth (PER) at 23:08, before continuing at 00:51. Jetstar makes no mention of any special Christmassy snacks or meals on the flight to Melbourne, which landed at 07:17, giving the crew time to get home for Christmas lunch or dinner.

Commercial aviation is a 24/7/365 business, so these two A321LRs were into full-time service within a matter of days, despite the rest of the country taking time off to celebrate the first Covid-restriction free Christmas for three years. Using VH-OFQ as an example again, its first scheduled flight was a return trip from Melbourne to Hobart (HBA) on December 28th, and since then, it has operated (at the time of writing) 71 flights from its Melbourne base. These have mainly been up and down Australia’s east coast, taking in Sydney (SYD), Brisbane (BNE), the Gold Coast (OOL), Cairns (CNS), Hobart (HBA) and Melbourne (MEL).

A plan ten years in the making

Photo: Jetstar.

While the A321neos only started arriving in July last year, the decision to order the aircraft was made more than a decade ago, so perhaps it should be no surprise they have been put to work so quickly. Former Jetstar CEO Gareth Evans often spoke about using the A321LRs on domestic routes during the day and sending them offshore at night to return to Australia and do it again the next day.

For this aircraft, that strategy took effect yesterday when it left Melbourne at 18:49 as Jetstar JQ35 and arrived in Bali, Indonesia, at 21:25. It departed Ngurah Rai International Airport (DPS), aka Denpasar International Airport, at 23:25 and after a 5:26 hour flight landed in Melbourne at 07:51 today. It is scheduled to leave this afternoon for a rotation to the Gold Coast and be back at base around 18:35 tonight.

Photo: Michael Doran I Simple Flying

The three other A321LRs, VH-OFE, VH-OFL and VH-OFP, had equally swift entry into service timetables and are operating full flight schedules daily. This mix of domestic-international scheduling will increase in June when Jetstar launches direct flights from Sydney Airport (SYD) to Rarotonga International Airport (RAR) in the Cook Islands, with other international destinations planned.

With an extended range of 3,500 nautical miles (6,482 kilometers) and a seating capacity for 232 passengers, the A321LRs are ideal for both domestic and short-haul international flying. Jetstar also has a fleet of 11 Boeing 787-8 Dreamliners so it has the flexibility to right-size capacity and frequencies on routes such as Bali, keeping load factors up and utilizing the single-aisle economics of the A321LR internationally and domestically.

Have you flown on the A321LR yet? Please let us know what you think of the cabin experience in the comments.