Jetstar adds 28,000 more seats over holiday season

In response to the increase in Australians travelling overseas, Jetstar has announced its plans to add 28,000 extra seats to popular routes including Phuket, Bali, and Honolulu.

The low-cost carrier will offer almost 28,000 extra seats to and from Phuket, Bali and Hawaii from 23 December 2011 until 31 January 2012, which is around 40 percent more compared to the same holiday period last year.

Jetstar Australia and NZ Chief Executive Officer David Hall said the decision to increase capacity was spurred by the rise in Australians travelling overseas for their holidays which has been driven by low fares and the strong Aussie dollar.

"Australians are continuing to travel overseas in record numbers and industry estimates suggest this will grow by 11 per cent to 4.7 million this calendar year," Mr Hall said.

"We are seeing strong increases in demand to Indonesia, Hawaii and Thailand, which are now the second, third and fourth most popular international destinations for Australians respectively."

As well as catering to the boom in international travel, Jetstar also continues to increase its domestic network by adding a daily return Melbourne-Hobart service, totaling a record 42 weekly flights between the two capital cities.

Jetstar will also expand its Melbourne-Launceston services, adding a further three services per week for the holiday period, bringing the total number of flights up to five times daily or 31 times per week.

Jetstar Group Chief Executive Officer Bruce Buchanan said the carriers expanding network across the Asia region is giving Australians more affordable travel options.