Qantas and Jetstar Asia offer Seamless Travel

Image Courtesy of stuff.co.nz

Qantas and Jetstar Asia have signed an interline agreement to offer seamless ticketing to Jetstar Asia’s Asian destinations come August 1, 2009. This step is a significant move to strengthen Jetstar Asia’s presence at its Singapore hub, increasing Jetstar Asia’s global profile, offering passengers more options and easy travelling along the Qantas and Jetstar network.

This move comes just over a month after the revamp of the Jetstar Asia ownership structure by where Qantas owns a 49% stake in the carrier while the other 51% belongs to Mr. Dennis Choo Teck Wang, the billionaire Singapore Travel entrepreneur and long time ally of Qantas in the Asia-Pacific region.

This new interline agreement to strengthen Jetstar Asia’s presence in the market stands to bear fruit for Qantas by virtue of tapping into the connecting traffic from Jetstar Asia’s flights bringing with it an increase in feeder traffic to Qantas designated flights to and from Singapore, the vibrant southeast Asian city which draws in millions of travelers each and every year.

Jetstar Asia stands to receive greater visibility on the global booking system due to this ability to interline. They will receive greater visibility with travel agents and allow Qantas and Jetstar Asia customers the option to purchase itineraries with greater ease and flexibility combining multiple destinations with the two carriers across a wide network in the Asia-Pacific region.

Jetstar Asia is one of the first low cost carriers to embark on an interline agreement. Generally low cost airlines have not embarked on interlining like full service airlines have as it adds complexity to operations but with Jetstar Asia being a part of the Qantas group and sister airline to Jetstar Australia interlining is more mainstream ultimately benefitting passengers without the increase in fares, an integral part to Jetstar Asia’s success.

Talking Point:
What do you feel will be Singapore Airlines response to this interlining agreement between Qantas and Jetstar considering its presence at Singapore’s Changi International Airport?

Will this have any effect on Silk Air, the subsidiary of Singapore Airlines (SIA) and Tiger Airways, the low cost carrier 49% backed by SIA?