{"id":6975,"date":"2019-12-08T22:31:44","date_gmt":"2019-12-09T04:31:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/planesintheair.com\/?p=6975"},"modified":"2019-12-08T22:31:44","modified_gmt":"2019-12-09T04:31:44","slug":"jetstar-commences-gold-coast-seoul-incheon-nonstop-flight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/planesintheair.com\/?p=6975","title":{"rendered":"Jetstar Commences Gold Coast-Seoul Incheon Nonstop Flight"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Jetstar group chief executive Gareth Evans says he is encouraged by the strong start to the low-cost carrier\u2019s (LCC) new nonstop Gold Coast-Seoul Incheon service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The inaugural flight departed Gold Coast Airport at a little past 1200 local time on Sunday, with Boeing 787-8 VH-VKF receiving an Airservices Aviation Rescue and Fire Fighting (ARFF) monitor cross prior to taking off as the JQ49 bound for Seoul Incheon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some nine hours and a half hours later, the 787-8 touched down at Seoul Incheon just before 2030 local time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And after about two and a half hours on the ground, the Dreamliner took off as the reciprocal JQ50 bound for the Gold Coast.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Evans expressed confidence that the route would do well, given the stimulatory impact of low fares and South Koreans\u2019 being among the most frequent travellers per capita of any country in the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Similarly, Australians were increasingly becoming aware of South Korea as a place to visit for food, history and popular culture influences such as K-Pop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere will be a lot of demand from Korea. But we are betting on huge increases in demand from Australians as well,\u201d Evans told reporters at Gold Coast Airport on Sunday prior to the inaugural flight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe start to the route has been fantastic so we are off to a very good footing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jetstar\u2019s Gold Coast-Seoul Incheon flights have been scheduled on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 787-8s serving the route have 335 seats comprising 21 business class recliners in a 2-3-2 configuration with 38-inch pitch and 314 economy class seats at nine abreast with 30-inch pitch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Currently, Asiana Airlines and Korean Air are the only two airlines with year-round nonstop flights between Australia and South Korea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Asiana flies to Sydney, while Korean Air has nonstop flights to Brisbane and Sydney.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, South Korean LCC Jin Air has served Cairns with seasonal flights<\/a> in recent years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Qantas \u2013 Jetstar\u2019s parent company \u2013 last served South Korea with its own aircraft in the mid-2000s when it flew Boeing 767-300ERs on seasonal services between Brisbane and Seoul. It also had year-round flights to Seoul in the late 1990s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ansett Australia also flew to Seoul in the late 1990s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Evans said the stimulatory impact of low fares offered by Jetstar compared with those of full-service carriers Asiana and Korean Air would help grow the market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Currently, the Australia-South Korea market was split 70 per cent South Korean travellers and 30 per cent Australian.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Looking ahead, Evans said he expected the directional flow to become more evenly balanced over time in a similar way the Australia-Japan market has evolved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe will grow both ends of the market but particularly we will grow the Australian end of the market,\u201d Evans said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cJapan sort of started about 70-30 now it is 50-50. We would imagine over time \u2013 a number of year \u2013 this market would move to a more 50-50 split.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Further, a partnership with South Korea\u2019s largest LCC Jeju Air, which has added its 7C airline code on the Jetstar flight as part of a hard block codeshare agreement, would also help raise awareness of the route in the South Korean market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe reason we are partnering with Jeju is because right now Jetstar brand has very little penetration in the Korean market so you need a strong partner to provide you with that brand strength and distribution in the market,\u201d Evans said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat\u2019s what Jeju brings.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Jetstar launched the route in May, it offered introductory fares of $179 one way. Since then, Evans said ticket prices for travel between the Gold Coast and Seoul Incheon have been in the $300 to $400 range.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s those low fares that stimulate demand and open up markets,\u201dEvans said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt has happened with us on a number of markets around Asia \u2013 Japan, Vietnam, Thailand. It will happen with Korea as well.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Asked why Gold Coast was chosen as the city to launch flights to Seoul Incheon, Evans said that was where the demand was, noting inbound travellers from Asia loved to visit the Queensland city.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Further, Gold Coast was also able to act as a hub and gateway for the airline, offering convenient connections to other parts of Australia in both directions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe geography of the Gold Coast and the operation that we have got here into the Gold Coast means that we are building the Gold Coast as a hub for our Australian traffic,\u201d Evans said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe are also seeing great demand from customers in Melbourne and Sydney connecting through the Gold Coast.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Queensland Airports Ltd chief executive Chris Mills said the Jetstar flight opened up another new and exciting destination for locals on the Gold Coast, as well as new nonstop option for South Koreans travelling to Australia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSouth Koreans will have a direct link to our stunning beaches and hinterland, delivering significant benefits to our economy,\u201d Mills said in a statement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Queensland Tourism Minister Kate Jones noted the number of South Korean visitors to Queensland had grown by about 20 per cent to 76,000 visitors a year in the 12 months to June 2019, compared with 63,000 visitors in the prior corresponding period.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The new route was supported by the Queensland government\u2019s attracting aviation investment fund, Queensland Airports and Destination Gold Coast.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jones said the negotiations were completed over an 18-month period.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBecause it is taxpayers\u2019 dollars to secure these new flights we always make sure that we believe that they meet our expectations for taxpayers,\u201d Jones said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFrom our perspective we back flights that we know will attract and bring new tourists to Queensland.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Written by\u00a0Jordan Chong<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Jetstar group chief executive Gareth Evans says he is encouraged by the strong start to the low-cost carrier\u2019s (LCC) new nonstop Gold Coast-Seoul Incheon service. The inaugural flight departed Gold Coast Airport at a little past 1200 local time on <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[797,3965,7890,9181,89,5637,5992,2203,4957,5676,8590,868,1103],"tags":[832,269,42,1697,539,118,92,9184,9188,9189,9185,1031,9186,160,41,1481,5374,1925,1216,2286,3998,5499,2287,9182,1924,2493,99,1907,6820,336,660,482,9183,5253,745,4971,199,808,1227,9187,3522,2454,1926,1923,1567,3577,412,4452,485,4018,3017,3978,2451,1055,1993,4269,4307,1756,159,2801,1691,1658,1209],"class_list":["post-6975","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-airline-news","category-airport-news","category-asia-news","category-australia-news","category-aviation-news","category-business-news","category-economic-news","category-finance-news","category-global-politics","category-international-news","category-japan-news","category-transportation-news","category-travel-news","tag-832","tag-269","tag-42","tag-agreement","tag-air","tag-airlines","tag-airport","tag-airservices","tag-ansett","tag-ansett-australia","tag-arff","tag-asiana","tag-asiana-airlines","tag-aviation","tag-boeing","tag-brisbane","tag-cairns","tag-carrier","tag-chief","tag-city","tag-coast","tag-code","tag-codeshare","tag-commences","tag-cost","tag-demand","tag-dreamliner","tag-executive","tag-fighting","tag-fire","tag-flight","tag-flights","tag-gareth-evans","tag-gold","tag-group","tag-incheon","tag-international","tag-japan","tag-jetstar","tag-jin-air","tag-korea","tag-korean","tag-lcc","tag-low","tag-market","tag-melbourne","tag-news","tag-nonstop","tag-qantas","tag-queensland","tag-rescue","tag-seasonal","tag-seoul","tag-service","tag-south","tag-start","tag-strong","tag-sydney","tag-thailand","tag-tourism","tag-transport","tag-transportation","tag-vietnam"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/planesintheair.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6975","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/planesintheair.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/planesintheair.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/planesintheair.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/planesintheair.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6975"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/planesintheair.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6975\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6978,"href":"https:\/\/planesintheair.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6975\/revisions\/6978"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/planesintheair.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6975"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/planesintheair.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6975"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/planesintheair.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6975"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}