The airline currently serves mainly destinations in Australia, China and Southeast Asia using A320 aircraft, but aims to add wide-body A330-200 medium and long-haul flights to and from destinations in Asia and beyond.
The hub placement will likely translate to an increase in its maintenance operations and cabin-crew base in Singapore over the coming years. The carrier and its part-owned Singaporean affiliate, Jetstar Asia, already have about 200 cabin crew based in Singapore.
“The clear operational advantages of Singapore as a hub and primary access point into Asia are clear and can now be further built upon,’’ Jetstar’s chief executive, Bruce Buchanan said.
The carrier will decide in coming months whether to use three new A330 aircraft due for delivery this year on flights within Asia or to Europe. Up for consideration is whether to focus on increasing flights within Asia before starting services to Germany, Greece or Italy. Asia offers annual growth in passenger traffic of 6 per cent, compared with about 2 per cent in Europe.
Earlier Jetstar forged a strategic alliance with the Malaysian low-cost carrier AirAsia, aimed at slashing procurement costs for the two carriers.
