Jetstar to add 28,000 seats to holiday routes

Jetstar will add 28,000 seats to popular international routes over the holidays.

Jetstar has announced plans to add 28,000 extra seats on routes to Honolulu, Bali and Thailand over the holidays.

The increased capacity, which amounts to a 40 per cent increase over the same period last year, comes as the strong Australian dollar pushes record numbers of Australians to travel overseas and as budget carriers continue to expand their share of international travel.

Three extra weekly services will be added to Jetstar’s Melbourne-Bali route, while two will be added between Sydney-Bali and Sydney-Honolulu. One additional weekly flight will be added to Sydney-Phuket and Melbourne-Bangkok. The extra flights will operate between December 23 and January 31.

“We are seeing strong increases in demand to Indonesia, Hawaii and Thailand, which are now the second, third and fourth most popular international destinations for Australians respectively,” Jetstar Australia and NZ CEO David Hall said in a statement. Industry estimates predict Australian overseas travel to grow by 11 per cent to 4.7 million this calendar year, he added.

Jetstar said it was also bolstering its domestic holiday routes, recently adding flights to destinations such as Tasmania.