Video of New Jetstar airbus A321 lands in Cairns from Melbourne

A major airline has unveiled the new star of its fleet with fresh features it claims passengers will love after it touched down for the first time in Cairns. See video of inside the plane

A NEW Jetstar plane with wider seats, larger overhead storage lockers and in-seat USB has touched down for the first time in Cairns with passengers.

The first of 38 new planes, Airbus A321LR (NEO) landed with over 210 passengers from Melbourne to Cairns on Friday morning.

The aircraft will operate daily return flights from Melbourne to Cairns before expanding to other markets.

“Our new fleet of NEOs will lift the bar on comfort for our customers, enable us to fly longer

distances and importantly deliver a more fuel-efficient way to fly,” Jetstar chief executive Gareth Evans said.

“Customers on today’s flight will no doubt notice the difference, with a range of in-flight

benefits including wider seats, 40 per cent larger overhead storage lockers, in-seat USB

power, mood lighting and engines which are 50 per cent quieter.”

While passengers from the first flight did notice the difference, there was a mixed response.

Johann Gardeback, of Sweden, said he liked the new concept of having the trays in front with access to a mobile phone charger.

“It was awesome, it was really, really clean,” he said.

“It was really cute because it was like the workers were seeing their baby on its first journey. They were excited to fly a new plane.”

Leeor Light, of Melbourne, said it was nice and clean but he felt the seats were more narrow.

“It was same old with an iPhone stand. But you didn’t get the luxury of the headrest,” he said.

“I’ve flown so many Jetstar flights and it was the same thing.”

Jetstar chief executive Mr Evans said the 18 new planes would be delivered by mid-2021, with a further 20 expected between 2024 and 2029.

“In the coming months, we’ll also roll out a digital streaming technology on board, meaning

customers can access Jetstar’s in-flight entertainment on their own devices when they fly,” he said.

Despite an effort to provide a further level of luxury to people there were some who were hesitant.

Christina Stephanos, of Brisbane, said she would favour Virgin if possible.

“Jetstar are good for a cheap flight but if I need to get somewhere with a deadline event I won’t fly with them,” she said.

Nick Volis from Gold Coast and Christina Stephanos from Brisbane said the new plane was good but fixing Jetstar's flight cancellation was key to them improving service. Picture: Andreas Nicola

“It’s nice that they have better planes but I think for me it would take good reviews about getting there on time which is more important to me.”

Cairns Airport chief executive Richard Barker said he was thrilled Jetstar chose Cairns as the destination for the new aircraft.

“The arrival of the very first A321neo in Cairns is a positive sign of things to come for the aviation industry, on both a domestic and international level,” he said.

“This aircraft can travel longer distances, which is likely to open up more route opportunities both to and from Cairns in the future.”

How interstate tourists are helping Far North recoup $1 billion loss

Over 10,000 interstate visitors will flood the Far North as tourism officials estimate they will contribute $15m to the economy to help recover the loss brought on by the pandemic.

A campaign that received grant funding by the government under the Recovery for Regional Tourism program administered by Austrade offered interstate travellers a $100 flight subsidy to travel before November 20 when booking through Webjet.

Mark Olsen, TTNQ CEO, said around 30,000 people a day were searching for flights to Cairns during July and the offer to get $100 off their fare helped more than 10,000 to make the decision to travel before the Christmas school holidays.

“The June/July school holidays were very busy in Tropical North Queensland and we are looking forward to seeing that repeated in the September/October holidays with the discounted flights helping to push numbers up in between those peak times,” said Tourism Tropical North Queensland CEO Mark Olsen.

“International visitors have started to trickle back with the addition of direct flights from New Zealand and Japan last month, but we are still a long way from recouping the $1bn international travel market for the destination so need to continue to drive demand for domestic visitation.”

Originally published as Video of New Jetstar airbus A321 lands in Cairns from Melbourne