No Legroom, Warm Beer - But Everyone's Happy

No leg room, warm beer - but everyone's happy
By Alexandra Smith and Scott Rochfort

http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/...461759023.html

Even the billboard looks excited ... comedian Magda Szubanski,
recruited by Jetstar for marketing duties, looms large over Qantas
Drive on the eve of the new budget carrier taking to the skies
yesterday. Photo: Dean Sewell
----------------

May 26, 2004 There was no elbowing for a plum window spot or
complaints from long-legged passengers about the cosy slimline seats.

Qantas's budget offshoot, Jetstar, had a no-frills feel to it - all
but one of the 14 Boeing 717s remain white without a hint of the
Jetstar brand - but the new airline had a smooth take-off yesterday.

The carrier completed 86 return flights in eastern Australia, to 13
destinations, from Hobart to Cairns. Not all flights were full but
passengers, some of whom paid just $29 for a one-way ticket, were
impressed.

"I thought it was a great flight and much better than some I fly in
the States," said Tom Boghossian, a Los Angeles businessman who was on
the 12.25pm Sydney-Gold Coast flight. Mr Boghossian, who visits
Australia every year, described Jetstar as "roomy and so, so smooth".

The in-flight service, with sandwiches, snacks and alcohol for sale,
was the only hiccup on that flight, according to two grandmothers who
took advantage of the cheap fares to visit family. "The beer was warm,
I paid $5 for a warm beer," said one of the women.

Jetstar, which does not allocate seating and has less leg room than
Virgin Blue, was launched nine months after its parent, Qantas, first
floated the idea of a budget arm to cater for Australia's leisure
travel market.

Passengers on the first flight, which left Jetstar's Newcastle's
maintenance base, landed in Melbourne and were greeted by Qantas
executives and the airline's "mascot", comedian Magda Szubanski.

Jetstar expects to fly 800 flights a week by August, which compares
with Qantas's 2500 services and Virgin Blue's 1600.

Jetstar plans to phase out its fleet of B717s by mid-2006, when it
expects to have 23 A320s in service. Virgin will boost its fleet of
Boeing 737s to 49 by next April. In March, Qantas announced plans to
buy five new B737s for its domestic operations.

But there are concerns that Australia's aviation market could soon
suffer from an over-supply of commercial aircraft.

On Monday, Virgin Blue reported a sharp decline in the proportion of
available seats it filled - from 84 to 75 per cent - in the 12 months
to April, as its fleet grew from 29 to 44.

On June 1, Jetstar will begin flights from Sydney and Brisbane to
Avalon airport, 55 kilometres from Melbourne.
--multiplaza.nl.nu--