Jetstar continues Pan Asian expansion adding China’s capital, Beijing*
Low fares leader Jetstar will make Beijing* an affordable and must see holiday destination for Australian families. (Flights subject to regulatory approval)
The new daily service Melbourne-Singapore-Beijing* service starts from 24 November 2011 and will put the Chinese cultural capital and its tourism highlights, from the Great Wall to Tiananmen Square, within reach of budget conscious Australian families.
Jetstar's new low fares to Beijing* mean that Australians can fly to China for less than the cost of a ticket from one of Jetstar's full service rivals to Bali.
Passengers buying an every day low fare online at Jetstar.com for the new Melbourne-Beijing* (via Singapore) service will pay just $499.
For a limited time, Jetstar is offering a special one-way fare of just $149 to celebrate the decision to fly to Beijing*.
The special sale runs for just two hours, from 3:30pm to 5:30pm today (13 July) at Jetstar.com.
(Terms & conditions apply, see Jetstar.com).
After the initial two hour sale, a special one-way fare of $299 will be available from 5:30pm today (13 July) until midnight tomorrow (14 July) at Jetstar.com. ^
Passengers flying this route will travel in comfort on our two class A330 aircraft.
Jetstar Group CEO Bruce Buchanan said going to Beijing marked a significant step in the airline's Pan Asia growth strategy.
"Beijing represents a critical step in the growth of our brand in China and the continued rollout of our Pan Asian strategy," Mr Buchanan said.
"Beijing builds on our low fares leadership position in Singapore, continuing the expansion of our successful Singapore hub, now connecting with another 22 destinations from Singapore, such as Jakarta, Phuket, Melbourne and Auckland," he said.
"Jetstar's expansion into Beijing is also a significant occasion for Australia, not only in terms of tourism and business, but Jetstar is proud to play a part in rekindling an historic link between both countries that dates back to the 1850s gold rush, when many Chinese landed in Melbourne at the height of the Ballarat and Bendigo gold strikes.
"Beijing has so many attractions to offer Australians, including the world heritage listed Summer Palace, the Temple of Heaven, the Thirteen Tombs of the Ming Dynasty and, of course, the famous Peking Man archeological dig.
"Australia is a major tourist destination for the Chinese, evidenced by a 27 per cent jump of Chinese passport holders who came through Melbourne Airport during the past year".
"Jetstar looks forward to working closely and cooperatively with Tourism Australia and the Victorian Government to build Chinese visitation to Victoria and more generally to Australia," Mr Buchanan.
Victorian Tourism and Major Events Minister Louise Asher congratulated Jetstar on commencing a new daily Melbourne service into China via Singapore.
"The decision to fly daily services to the Chinese capital is a significant plus for Melbourne. It will carry up to 4,000 passengers a week between Beijing and Singapore and on to Australia," Ms Asher said.
Andrew McEvoy, Managing Director Tourism Australia said that China is now Australia's largest source market by value, and was going to keep growing.
"We believe the Chinese market has the potential to grow to between $7 billion and $9 billion by 2020. This level of expenditure growth would see Australia welcoming between 780,000 and 860,000 annual visitors within the next decade," Mr McEvoy said.
"To deliver these numbers we still need to see significant growth in aviation capacity from the Chinese market, which is why Jetstar's new service is very much to be welcomed."
Mr Buchanan said the new Beijing* service would bring many benefits for Jetstar and its customers:
· China will be the biggest inbound tourism market for Australia by 2020 and is already among the top two destinations for Singapore travellers
· The number of travellers into and out of Beijing during the first half of 2011 reached a record 8.888 million, up 11.9 per cent on the same period last year
· Tourism revenue of world travel to China reached CNY1.1 trillion ($A157.9 billion), up 20 per cent on the first half of 2010.
· Australia is home to more than 200,000 Chinese-born residents, with 50,000 living in Victoria. Another 167,000 Chinese students have come to Australia to study¥
· An estimated 5,000 Australians live and work in Beijing¥
The new daily Singapore-Beijing* service will connect with Jetstar's existing Melbourne-Singapore service via Jetstar's Singapore hub, with a stop-over in Singapore on the inbound Australian sector.
Beijing will become Jetstar's 9th destination in China as part of a rapidly expanding China growth strategy which has seen in the introduction of flights to Haikou, Shantou, Guilin, Hangzhou and Ningbo all in the past 18 months.
* Subject to regulatory approval
¥ ABS Statistics