Jetstar ups Cairns flying

Jetstar has announced plans to add more frequencies on a number of services to Cairns from early next year.

From January 13, the airline will increase its services on the Gold Coast-Cairns route from three times per week to daily, while Brisbane-Cairns services will be boosted from three to four times daily. In addition, services from Melbourne and Sydney to Cairns will be increased from twice to three times daily from April 4. Together, the new services will add 8850 seats each week to Cairns.

The Cairns market appears to have rebounded from the effects of the global financial crisis, with recent data from the Bureau of Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Economics (BITRE) showing major growth on a number of routes to and from Cairns in recent months. Jetstar is also facing increased competition in the Cairns market, with Tiger launching daily services from Melbourne from September 16.

The new services are part of a plan by the Qantas Group to add more than 66,000 seats per week to the domestic networks of Qantas and Jetstar over the next year.