JETSTAR将在5月份减少四分之一塔州的航班

Jetstar prunes schedule

LINDA SMITH

April 22, 2009 09:11am

BUDGET airline Jetstar will slash almost a quarter of its Tasmanian flights next month.

For the duration of May Jetstar will cut 36 weekly flights in and out of Tasmania -- which is almost a quarter of the 154 one-way flights the airline usually schedules each week.

The cuts start from May 1 -- the same date that Jetstar relocates its Hobart base to Melbourne.

The airline yesterday denied the axed flights were linked to that, saying May was always a quiet month and flights needed to be cut in the short term for the airline to remain viable.

Last month Jetstar announced its Hobart base would close and the jobs of 35 cabin crew and six pilots would go, with all flights in and out of Hobart to be staffed by Melbourne crews from May 1.

Two weeks later the jobs of 18 Jetstar check-in staff -- 14 in Hobart and four in Launceston -- were axed as the airline announced it would contract its ground operations to a Tasmanian company.

Jetstar insisted then that it would maintain its 77 return services -- or 154 one-way flights -- from Hobart and Launceston each week.

The airline's May schedule, however, will see 36 Tasmanian flights a week cut.

There will be 26 less flights a week servicing Hobart and 10 less flights a week in and out of Launceston, equating to a statewide cut of more than 140 flights for the month.

Most of the axed flights will be to and from Melbourne, and most will be mid-week flights in the middle of the day.

Jetstar corporate relations manager Simon Westaway said the changes were a "major reduction" but said May was a quiet month and altering the schedule was vital for Jetstar to remain viable in Tasmania.

He said the changes would only apply for the month of May, and Jetstar would return to normal scheduling in June in time for the school holidays and the Queen's Birthday long weekend.

Mr Westaway said Jetstar passengers who had booked seats on the cancelled flights in advance had now been contacted and placed on other flights.

He said demand in May had been low for the past four or five years.

"May is soft time of the market and the mid-week level of demand isn't there," he said.

http://www.themercury.com.au/article/2009/04/22/68375_travel.html

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