Jetstar to fly Melbourne to Fiji direct in time for summer holidays

The airline will become the first low-cost carrier to fly direct from Melbourne to Fiji, with sale fares on offer for $179.

Jetstar will fly direct from Melbourne to Fiji, making it the first low-cost carrier to operate on the route to the tropical hotspot.

Three services a week will fly to the South Pacific nation from December 16.

The airline’s move comes after its Sydney-Fiji flights took off, with strong interest from Melbourne travellers looking for some sun.

Jetstar chief customer officer Alan McIntyre said the flights on Monday, Thursday and Saturday could carry 72,000 passengers a year between Melbourne and Nadi.

Jetstar is launching direct flights between Melbourne and Fiji. Picture: Tony Gough

“Since relaunching our Sydney to Fiji services, we’ve seen strong demand from Melbourne travellers,” Mr McIntyre said.

Jetstar will operate Airbus A321neo LR aircraft for the flights, which will take about five hours.

Last August the airline started taking delivery of the new planes, which are claimed to be quieter and also have ergonomic seats and more overhead storage.

A 24-hour launch sale will be held online from 11am on Tuesday with one-way fares from $179.

Australia is Fiji’s biggest source of tourists.

Latest data from the Fiji Bureau of Statistics shows that in May this year 34,713 Australians visited the island nation – 46.2 per cent of all holiday arrivals.

More Australians visit Fiji than from any other country.

The Jetstar decision also reflects Victorian travellers’ desire to go overseas again after the pandemic.

Melbourne Airport figures show that international passenger numbers for the June school holidays alone were up 62.9 per cent on the same time last year.

The airport’s chief of aviation, Jim Parashos, said demand for tropical destinations such as Fiji was at record highs since borders reopened.

“Melbourne is Australia’s largest city by population, and we’re glad to see Jetstar recognise our strong outbound demand by adding more capacity,” he said.

The airport recently set a post-pandemic record for monthly aircraft movements in May, 19,714 flights arriving or departing, with international traffic more than doubling on the previous year.

The return or launch of new airlines and routes has driven demand and carriers including VietJet, AirAsia X, Scoot internationally and Bonza domestically are increasing passenger capacity.

Last month Vietnam Airlines started twice-a-week direct flights between Hanoi and Melbourne.

Bonza, the newest entrant in the domestic market, is flying to eight regional destinations from Tullamarine and one from Avalon since launching its Melbourne services in February.

Originally published as Jetstar to fly Melbourne to Fiji direct in time for summer holidays