QANTAS low-cost offshoot Jetstar is about to expand into China with visa-free flights to Haikou and its ritzy resort of Sanya in Hainan Province.
The resort, an 8 km strip of beachfront hotels, attracted more than 670,000 foreign tourists last year, the vast majority from Russia, South Korea and Taiwan.
The flights, which will operate four-times a week from Melbourne via an overnight stop in Singapore, are expected to cost less than $500 one-way.
Singapore-based Jetstar Asia will offer a special launch fare of $S48 ($A39.76) for the Singapore to Haikou leg of the flight today on its Jetstar.com website.
The cost of a Jetstar flight to Singapore from Melbourne starts at $349.
Haikou is the first of a series of new Asian destinations the carrier will unveil over the next 12 months as it takes delivery of three new 180-seat passenger jets.
The airline also is negotiating with various air traffic authorities across Asia to obtain traffic rights to routes that will see see India and Laos added to its network of 18 Asian destinations.
Last week Jetstar chief executive Bruce Buchanan said the plan was to grow the Singapore operation by 46 per cent over the next year once the new jets entered service.
Jetstar Asia also plans to launch a double-daily service from Singapore to coughet from December 15 as well as expanding its Singapore-Manila flights, to 10 a week from October 25.
The carrier will also offer an additional daily service to three on its Singapore to Bangkok route from September.
Last week Jetstar outshone its parent brand by reporting an 18 per cent rise in pre-tax profit to $126 million compared with a $77 million loss by Qantas which has been blamed on a slump in first and business class tickets sales and the price war on fares across the Pacific.
Qantas budget offshoot Jetstar to fly to Haikou and Sanya | Herald Sun
The resort, an 8 km strip of beachfront hotels, attracted more than 670,000 foreign tourists last year, the vast majority from Russia, South Korea and Taiwan.
The flights, which will operate four-times a week from Melbourne via an overnight stop in Singapore, are expected to cost less than $500 one-way.
Singapore-based Jetstar Asia will offer a special launch fare of $S48 ($A39.76) for the Singapore to Haikou leg of the flight today on its Jetstar.com website.
The cost of a Jetstar flight to Singapore from Melbourne starts at $349.
Haikou is the first of a series of new Asian destinations the carrier will unveil over the next 12 months as it takes delivery of three new 180-seat passenger jets.
The airline also is negotiating with various air traffic authorities across Asia to obtain traffic rights to routes that will see see India and Laos added to its network of 18 Asian destinations.
Last week Jetstar chief executive Bruce Buchanan said the plan was to grow the Singapore operation by 46 per cent over the next year once the new jets entered service.
Jetstar Asia also plans to launch a double-daily service from Singapore to coughet from December 15 as well as expanding its Singapore-Manila flights, to 10 a week from October 25.
The carrier will also offer an additional daily service to three on its Singapore to Bangkok route from September.
Last week Jetstar outshone its parent brand by reporting an 18 per cent rise in pre-tax profit to $126 million compared with a $77 million loss by Qantas which has been blamed on a slump in first and business class tickets sales and the price war on fares across the Pacific.
Qantas budget offshoot Jetstar to fly to Haikou and Sanya | Herald Sun
