Jake Nelson

The low-cost carrier has partnered with travel tech startup Awai to roll out the package deals, which can be booked through its FlyBonza app. The first phase includes flights, accommodation, and optional travel insurance, with the second phase to cover offerings such as car hire and tours.

The Regional Airfare Zone Cap (RAZC) scheme, which was budgeted for $6.2 million in its first year, cost the state government $17 million in FY23. According to industry insiders cited by the Financial Review, most of this went to Qantas, which operates around 65 per cent of regional flights in WA.

The non-stop service commenced last Friday aboard the A320neo PK-BDF, and will be operated by A320 aircraft, arriving in Perth at 12:20am every night and returning to Jakarta at 1:50am.

The investment, funded from the Flying Kangaroo’s profits, is in addition to $150 million that has already been budgeted, and comes not long after new CEO Vanessa Hudson recorded a video apology to customers for the airline’s recent missteps.

Registered VH-8JS, the plane touched down at just after 10pm on Friday in Brisbane after a ferry flight from Singapore, where it had undergone repainting and heavy maintenance. The nine-year-old aircraft formerly operated for SilkAir as 9V-MGB.

Vanessa Hudson admitted in a video message that the Flying Kangaroo has not “delivered the way [it] should have”, and pledged to overhaul customer policies, make Qantas more passenger-friendly and rebuild Australians’ trust in the national carrier.