Last month was the first time since January 2020 that Melbourne saw more than one million international passengers, with the airport also setting a new all-time monthly record for international flights at 4,976, breaking January 2020’s record of 4,834.

The carrier added two new A321neo LRs to its fleet shortly before Christmas, bringing total NEO numbers to 11, with seven more expected by the end of this year. After considering fitting vortex generators to A320s for noise reduction, Jetstar has since concluded there is no business case to do so.

Singapore-based John Simeone, who has been Qantas’ senior vice-president for Asia since April last year, will head Jetstar Asia from 1 March. He has worked for Qantas since 1997, with roles in areas such as international sales, business and government sales, and network scheduling.

Launching on 28 April, the route will initially operate three times per week on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays using 253-seater A340-300 aircraft, adding 78,936 seats between Australia and South Africa. Perth Airport hopes SAA will eventually expand to a daily service.