Jetstar has confirmed it will launch a Darwin-Singapore-Osaka service, a new international link designed to feed into its fledgling domestic network in Japan.
The airline’s existing Darwin-Singapore service will now continue on to Osaka three times a week from November 1, with the Darwin-Singapore leg operated by an A321 and Singapore-Osaka by an A330. It represents the airline’s fourth long haul destination from its Singapore hub.
Jetstar Group chief executive Jane Hrdlicka anticipated the new service would capitalise on the airline’s growing presence in the Japanese market, following the launch of its domestic network earlier this month.
“We always look for opportunities across the Jetstar Group to join the dots in our existing network to improve what we can offer travellers,” she said.
“This new service means Darwin will be connected to Osaka as well as Tokyo, and by extension, to three other major Japanese cities via Jetstar Japan’s domestic network.”
The new service comes as visitor numbers to Japan continue to recover after last year’s earthquake. Visitors from Singapore to Japan rose 45% in the first five months of 2012, while those from Australia grew 15%.
Hrdlicka also expected the new link would encourage inbound tourism, boosted further the new domestic service’s connections to Japan’s secondary cities.
Japan is Australia’s fifth largest market for inbound tourists. Arrivals climbed 7.5% in the first four months of 2012.
