Jake Nelson

Launching on 27 October and running until March 2027, the route will operate three times per week using A321neo LRs, adding more than 30,000 seats over the summer peak. The news comes after Jetstar last year carried more than 700,000 customers across the Tasman, up 9 per cent on 2024.

Speaking to media on Monday, Foreign Minister Penny Wong said around 115,000 Australians are currently in the Middle East region, and that the resumption of commercial flights would be the government’s preferred method for repatriating them given the scale of the problem.

Airports in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and Doha – all major hubs for travel between Australia and Europe – remain closed, with both Dubai International and Abu Dhabi airports having sustained damage. Flights from Australia to Europe through the Gulf have been turned back, diverted, or cancelled.

The next-generation jets, which boast a longer range than the 737-800s they are replacing, are already serving Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth, and will commence on Brisbane-Perth services in May.

The airline has been roiled by continued headaches with global engine maintenance delays; a “slower than expected” domestic recovery; and a weak NZ dollar, and says it expects second-half earnings to be “broadly in line with, or modestly below, the first half”.

Australia’s second-largest airline group saw underlying EBIT grow to $490 million, up 11.7 per cent on the first half of 2024–25, though statutory net profit after tax was down 27.9 per cent to $341 million due to the exhaustion of deferred tax credits accrued through losses from COVID-19.