Western Sydney International Airport will not be an “economic option” for Qantas, chief executive Vanessa Hudson has said.
Speaking to media at WSI on Wednesday, Hudson said that while leisure travel will likely account for the majority of Qantas Group’s business from the airport, especially through Jetstar, premium and business travel will also play a significant role in its passenger mix.
This content is available exclusively to Australian Aviation members.
To continue reading the rest of this article, please log in.
To unlock all Australian Aviation magazine content and again unlimited access to our daily news and features, Become a member today!
A monthly membership is just $5.99 or save with our annual plans.
See benefits
-
Australian aviation quarterly print and digital magazines -
Access to In Focus reports every month on our website
MOST POPULAR
PRINTING + DIGITAL
See benefits
-
Unlimited access to all Australian Aviation digital content -
Access to the Australian Aviation app -
Australian aviation quarterly print and digital magazines -
Access to In Focus reports every month on our website -
Access to our behind-the-lens photo galleries and other exclusive content -
Daily news updates via our email newsletter.
DIGITAL
See benefits
-
Unlimited access to all Australian Aviation digital content -
Access to the Australian Aviation app -
Australian aviation quarterly print and digital magazines -
Access to In Focus reports every month on our website -
Access to our behind-the-lens photo galleries and other exclusive content -
Daily news updates via our email newsletter.
“95 per cent of Jetstar passengers are leisure, and the Gold Coast, Brisbane and Melbourne are great leisure destinations, and for Qantas, we provide a large portion of leisure, but a disproportionate proportion of Qantas customers are business,” he said.
“We are incredibly proud of the role Jetstar is going to play in unlocking affordable travel, and Jetstar has done this for 22 years, and it is something we will continue to ensure the Qantas group focuses on.
“We will invest here in Western Sydney, not just in the network we announced today, but over time we will invest in new services to Perth and other destinations, and that will be something our team will focus on all the time.”
Jetstar will be the Qantas Group’s only passenger airline on WSI during its first months of operation, with the inaugural flight launching on October 25 and QantasLink commencing E190 services next year. According to Hudson, the group is not simply “dipping its toe” into WSI.
“60 per cent of Qantas passengers are business travellers, both large companies and small and medium-sized businesses,” he said.
“If you look at Qantas seasonality, December, January and February are the months when business travelers are on holiday, so March is the right month for us to really set these services up for success. “I’m sure from then on, as we see demand grow, we will expand that service to match it.
“I think our approach is that we want to see this as a great success. Building on the position we have announced today is the right thing to do to stimulate demand and set up our operations properly.
“Qantas is undertaking the largest fleet renewal in our history, so we have a lot of flexibility to add additional aircraft, more frequency, larger aircraft, and we expect demand to grow, and when we see that, we will add more frequency.”
Jetstar will initially operate up to 14 return flights to Melbourne per week, as well as four per week to the Gold Coast and three per week to Brisbane. QantasLink will begin operating from the airport on March 28, 2027, with four E190 flights per week to Melbourne and Brisbane.
