This Sunday (01 May) sees the first scheduled international departure flight by Jetstar from Cairns Airport, since early 2020.
Flight JQ 90 departs Cairns Airport International terminal heading for Bali at 9.30pm, with an expected full load of 180 passengers taking the opportunity to rediscover the island paradise that is always so popular with Australian travellers. Operated by A320 aircraft the service will initially be twice per week increasing to three from June.
‘It is great to see more international flights returning to our airport, with Bali a welcome addition to those services recently introduced by Singapore Airlines and Air Niugini’ said Richard Barker, Chief Executive Officer of North Queensland Airports.
Pre-pandemic, over 60,000 passengers travelled on the Cairns-Bali route with locals taking the opportunity to holiday overseas on the flight which takes just over 4 hours.
The resumption of international services comes as Cairns Airport saw bumper numbers flying domestically in the last four weeks, with school holidays, Easter holidays and long weekends creating a perfect opportunity to holiday in Far North Queensland.
‘Needless to say, April will be the best month for the airport in over two years and for a period of time back to 2019 passenger levels, however we expect this to slow a little in the coming months before we once again hit our mid-winter peak’ added Richard.
The resumption of Jetstar services to Japan from Cairns continues to be under review due to the continued restrictions on arrivals into Japan. Flights are currently slated to resume mid-July.