Massive Jetstar flight sale causes website crash

Domestic travel is set to take off as an Aussie airline slashes flight prices, but the ticket frenzy caused a website meltdown.

Jetstar was hit with some technical issues this morning after thousands of Aussies rushed on the site to score some wildly cheap flights to more than 50 destinations in a new 24-hour special.

A Jetstar spokesman confirmed the airline’s website suffered some minor issues this morning due to the sheer number of people on the site. The airline’s tech team was running some checks but said everything appeared to be resolved just after 10am.

Jetstar has dropped at least 22,000 flights down to as little as $22 in a bid to get people up in the air.

Launching at midnight on Monday, the sale fares will be available for major cities and rural areas around Australia.

The lengthy list of destinations includes Brisbane, Whitsundays, Cairns, Darwin, Ballina, Melbourne, Uluru, Hamilton Island and Sydney.

The massive announcement will offer flights to more than 50 destinations across Australia. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Andrew Henshaw

The flash sale continues in these hot spots – all sitting at just $22 per fare.

Adelaide to: Brisbane, Cairns, Darwin, Gold Coast, Hobart, Melbourne, Sydney and the Sunshine Coast.

Brisbane to: Cairns, Darwin, Hobart, Launceston, Mackay, Melbourne, Newcastle, Sydney, Townsville, Uluru and the Whitsundays.

Gold Coast to: Hobart, Melbourne and Newcastle.

Melbourne to: Ballina Byron, Darwin, Gold Coast, Hobart, Sydney, Townsville, Uluru and the Whitsundays.

Sydney to: Ballina Byron, Darwin, Hamilton Island, Hervey Bay, Hobart, Gold Coast, Launceston, Melbourne, Sunshine Coast, Townsville, Uluru and the Whitsundays.

Cairns to: Darwin, Gold Coast, Melbourne and Sydney.

Jetstar captain John Russell is ready for an influx of flights. Picture: Alex Coppel.

The flight dates range from mid October to late November 2022.

Jetsetters are urged to book fast as the window closes at 11.59pm (AEDT) on Tuesday – unless sold out prior.

The “Twosday” promotion is the second biggest domestic sale since the “half off flights” released late March 2021.

The flash sale is set to welcome vaccinated Australians who wish to see their loved ones after a tiring two-year pandemic.

The airline’s offer follows Australia’s newest airline Bonza announcing it would launch mid year.

Bonza will offer low budget flights on more than 25 routes to 15 regional locations across the nation.

Flights will take off in budding tourist locations, including Albury, Avalon, Bundaberg, Gladstone, Mildura, Rockhampton and Toowoomba.

Aviation analyst Geoffrey Thomas told reporters the company’s new business model would connect Australians to towns that were disconnected.

“Evidence globally shows that when you do connect to towns or locations that have not previously been connected directly, then you triple the traffic on that particular sector.” he said.

MORE INTERNATIONAL FLIGHTS

Australia is throwing open its doors after two years of Covid chaos - and airlines have wasted no time to capitalise on the expects demand from travel starved Aussies.

Emirate and Etihad are launching new flights and larger planes to Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane, as the international border opens on February 21.

Emirates has announced its second daily flight on the Sydney-Dubai route will start in March, just weeks after it boosted capacity on its daily Melbourne flight by 50 per cent when it upgraded to the A380 aircraft.

The A380 aircraft will fly an extra seven flights a week, from March 1, and is part of the airline’s plans to increase services to meet the travel hunger of Australians, who have been kept at home for two years by the Covid pandemic.

Emirates is also boosting flights to Brisbane from March 1 with daily flights from Dubai and the Queensland capital, also on the larger A380. The aircraft change and frequency increase will mean about 3,000 additional seats per week for both inbound and outbound travellers.

“We are also thrilled to see the A380’s return to Brisbane, making it the latest addition to our A380 network and making it our third point in the country to once again be served by our iconic aircraft. With the latest changes we have introduced to our operations in Australia, travellers to and from Brisbane will have more opportunities for leisure and business travel,” Barry Brown, Emirates Divisional Vice President for Australasia said.

Emirates has announced flight changes to Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane.

Etihad Airways is also set to increase flights by offering daily flights between Abu Dhabi to Melbourne and Sydney.

Etihad Airways Vice President Sales – Australia and New Zealand, Sarah Built, expects the routes to quickly recover from the Covid-induced slump.

“Etihad is excited to ramp up services to Melbourne and Sydney at the end of March, and it’s the perfect timing given the reopening of Australia’s borders and Etihad celebrating 15 years of operations to Australia,” she said.

“Close to 900,000 travellers flew with Etihad to and from Australia in 2019, with Melbourne and Sydney both being some of the best-performing routes in Etihad’s global network, and Etihad is confident that the market will continue to recover as Covid-19 recedes,” Ms Built said.

Abu Dhabi will be easier to get to after Etihad boosted flights between there and Australia.

Meanwhile, Qantas will keep flying its double daily direct flights from Australia to London via Darwin following ongoing uncertainty around the reopening of the West Australian border and testing requirements for passengers transiting through Singapore.

The Perth to London service was scheduled to revert to operating via Perth in April, but with the West Australian Government yet to confirm a reopening date for the state, Qantas will continue to operate the route via Darwin until at least June 2022.