Jetstar out, Qantas in on Honolulu route as cost of a US holiday climbs

The expense of a Hawaiian holiday is believed to be behind the switch from Jetstar to Qantas on Melbourne-Honolulu.

Qantas is set to take over Jetstar’s Melbourne-Honolulu route from next May, giving travellers a full service experience on the 10-hour flight.

The three times a week service will be operated by A330s, replacing Jetstar’s twice-weekly flights flown by Boeing 787s.

Both Jetstar and Qantas will continue to fly Sydney-Honolulu a collective eight times a week.

Executive Traveller editor David Flynn said it appeared the switch reflected the challenges of a soft Australian dollar against the greenback and cost of living pressures, making the route “a better fit for the deeper-pocketed Qantas demographic”.

“This is definitely an upgrade for travellers at the pointy end with Qantas offering flat-beds in business class compared to Jetstar’s premium economy-like experience (in business),” Mr Flynn said.

“By the time these flights take off in May 2025 the Qantas A330s should also have fast free Wi-Fi to keep passengers connected on the 10 hour trans-Pacific trek.”

Qantas International chief executive Cam Wallace said the new service by Qantas would allow Jetstar to redeploy its 787 to other destinations and long-haul routes.

To mark the announcement, Qantas flagged a “50,000 seat fare sale” on North and South American routes, including a launch economy fare of $1049 return for Melbourne-Honolulu.

Other routes on sale included Sydney and Brisbane to Los Angeles for $1199 return; Sydney-Vancouver for $1599 and Melbourne-Dallas Fort Worth for $1699.

Business class sale fares on Melbourne-Honolulu started from $5699 return, or 297,300 points plus $1240 for a Classic Plus rewards seat.

Ka'ena State Park in Oahu, Hawaii. Picture: Getty Images

The sale fares were for travel between October and June next year, and would be available on the Qantas website until midnight next Monday, unless sold out beforehand.

International airline activity data compiled by the Bureau of Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Economics showed there were plenty of empty seats on flights to the US.

Hawaiian Airlines recorded an average seat utilisation of 58.1 per cent on inbound routes in June, and 76.7 per cent heading out of Australia.

United Airlines which added significant capacity into Australia in the last year, filled an average of 70.3 per cent of seats on inbound flights, and 78.5 per cent outbound.

Delta Air Lines averaged 73.6 per cent seat utilisation on inbound routes, and 83.9 per cent heading to the US.

Qantas’ US routes were 77.5 per cent full inbound, and 86.6 per cent outbound.

American Airlines, which will add Brisbane to its network from late October, had the best figures with 82.5 per cent of seats filled on inbound flights, and 93.8 per cent heading out of Australia.

Previously considered a good value holiday, the US has become much more expensive for Australian travellers since Covid-19, due to the weak dollar and the expectation of a 20 to 25 per cent “tip” for service in restaurants, taxis and beauty salons.

The Australian dollar is currently worth 68c against the greenback.