Jetstar flights between Cairns and Newcastle to restart in December

Jetstar has wasted no time reinstating a popular Cairns flight route following the Premier’s border roadmap announcement.

JETSTAR has wasted no time in ­announcing the reinstatement of flights between Cairns and Newcastle from ­Friday, December 17.

The 2 hour 45 minimum service will run three times a week (Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays) until at least April 30, 2022. Jetstar predicts the service will carry up to 6000 passengers between Cairns and Newcastle each month.

The seasonal route was originally launched in June 2021 and saw strong ­demand before it was suspended in September. The airline is offering lead-in fares from $99 (one-way) from Wednesday.

The reinstatement follows Jetstar’s confirmation in early October that it intended to restart Japan flights in February and Bali flights in April, depending on restrictions.

A Jetstar Airbus A320 jet aircraft. Jetstar has announced it will reinstate flights between Cairns and Newcastle in December. Picture: Brendan Radke

The news comes as the budget carrier’s competitor Virgin Australia last week announced it was launching a new direct flight service between Cairns and the Gold Coast as the airline expanded its domestic network.

Tickets are now on sale for the new flights, which are scheduled to begin on December 9 and will provide nearly 9000 seats a month.

Multiple airlines have launched new flight routes featuring Cairns. Picture: iStock

And prior to that there have been several other domestic routes launched from Cairns, including a new QantasLink service to Adelaide and SkyTrans flights to the Whitsundays.

And the flight announcements featuring Cairns have also extended to the national carrier with Qantas revealing it would launch new flight route between Cairns and Darwin as the airline boosts connectivity across Northern Australia.

The Cairns flights are scheduled to start in late March, while the Flying Kangaroo will also begin a Townsville-Darwin route in January.

Originally published as Jetstar flights between Cairns and Newcastle to restart in December