Singapore-based Jetstar Asia, which is 49% owned by Qantas, said it has entered into an agreement with Qantas Freight to manage its freight capacity from 20 November.
The arrangement covers 23 ports in 13 markets and gives the budget carrier access to Qantas Freight’s 130 partners.
Jetstar Asia operates a fleet of 18 Airbus A320 passenger aircraft, with each carrying up to two and a half tonnes of cargo per flight, while Qantas carries freight on more than 130 passenger
flights per week to ten cities in Asia (excluding Japan), in addition to full freighters to Bangkok, Chongqing, Hong Kong and Shanghai.
Jetstar Asia chief executive Barathan Pasupathi said in a statement that the carrier is the only low fares airline operating services from Singapore to numerous Asia-Pacific destinations like
Okinawa, Darwin, Medan and Siem Reap. “By joining forces, Qantas freight customers will also benefit from direct access to fresh markets previously unavailable to them.”
Start of a streamlined freight journey
Qantas Freight executive manager Paul Jones added that “By joining forces, we will improve efficiencies for the group, offer greater flexibility and leverage synergies while unlocking value for
our freight customers by offering more connections. This partnership will provide a more streamlined freight journey through Asia, Australia, Europe and the U.S.”
Qantas Freight carried 90,000 tonnes of goods across Asia in the year ending June 2019, including food, fresh produce and other commodities.
Australian Post customers largely benefit from airline agreements
The partnership with Jetstar Asia follows another pact between Qantas Freight and Australia Post last month which covered an expanded domestic and international air freight agreement to support
the growing demand for parcels.
As CargoForwarder Global reported earlier, the seven-year agreement valued at over A$1 billion will give Australia Post customers access to Qantas Freight’s dedicated freighter aircraft and
priority access to the cargo space on up to 1,500 Qantas and Jetstar passenger flights to over 110 destinations each day, in addition to space on partner airlines globally.
It will also see the introduction of up to three Airbus A321P2Fs (Passenger to Freighter) to the freighter network used for Australia Post. Qantas will be the first airline in the world to
operate the A321 as a freighter aircraft.
Nol van Fenema
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