Albert Hoffman
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- Joined
- Feb 25, 2010
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- 117
International flights to resume at Townsville Airport from September | Australian Aviation
"Townsville Airport has secured its first international route two months after the federal government agreed to support passenger processing at the North Queensland gateway. Qantas’s low-cost subsidiary Jetstar will fly three times a week between Townsville and Bali (Denpasar) with Airbus A320s from September, the airport said on Friday. Townsville Airport said chief operating officer Kevin Gill said the new flights to Bali would offer North Queenslanders more choice and convenience for their travel plans.
“Denpasar is not just an exciting destination in its own right, but it’s also a major international air services hub with direct connections to many major cities around the world,”"
This is really great news, as a former resident of Townsville I really hope this time, the service is sustainable. As a kid I flew one of the last Air Niugini F-28 flights from POM-TSV, I believe it was QF that insisted on shutting down the route against the wishes of PX. The Prime Minister of PNG promised the route would open again a few years ago but this came to nought.
It was a toss-up between JQ and AK as to who would fly the route, and perhaps AirAsia could have attracted more traffic with their fly-thru service that allows one to transit to other Asian destinations without going through the hassle of customs/immigration and paying the excesive Bali arrival/departure taxes to catch a connecting flight.
It would be great to develop this connectivity through DPS and just a tourist destination but as a transit point for Townsvillians travelling to/from further destinations in Asia and Europe. However I'm unsure if Jetstar's interline agreements and Bali Airport transit facilities are ready for this.
I have read conflicting information about if Bali has a transit lounge and whether luggage can in fact be 'checked through'. The connection From Europe on Emirates is okay, Emirates’ new daily flight to Bali arrives at DPS 2140hrs, The JQ flight to Townsville leaves Bali at 0230 arriving at TSV at 0915. I hope that Townsville Enterprises will work with Jetstar to market this possible connection. I know that some people will say well why not just fly through Brisbane both ways?
The concern is that the last airline that tried to fly TSV-DPS was only achieving 60% load factors during the non peak season, and it seems that the many people from Townsville that travel to other destinations in Asia might choose to fly through Bali to keep the route alive. Parochialism runs strong up north! It would be interesting to know the load factors on the JQ Bali flight that commenced in Dec 2014 to determine whether TSV will be in the long run sustainable.
"Townsville Airport has secured its first international route two months after the federal government agreed to support passenger processing at the North Queensland gateway. Qantas’s low-cost subsidiary Jetstar will fly three times a week between Townsville and Bali (Denpasar) with Airbus A320s from September, the airport said on Friday. Townsville Airport said chief operating officer Kevin Gill said the new flights to Bali would offer North Queenslanders more choice and convenience for their travel plans.
“Denpasar is not just an exciting destination in its own right, but it’s also a major international air services hub with direct connections to many major cities around the world,”"
This is really great news, as a former resident of Townsville I really hope this time, the service is sustainable. As a kid I flew one of the last Air Niugini F-28 flights from POM-TSV, I believe it was QF that insisted on shutting down the route against the wishes of PX. The Prime Minister of PNG promised the route would open again a few years ago but this came to nought.
It was a toss-up between JQ and AK as to who would fly the route, and perhaps AirAsia could have attracted more traffic with their fly-thru service that allows one to transit to other Asian destinations without going through the hassle of customs/immigration and paying the excesive Bali arrival/departure taxes to catch a connecting flight.
It would be great to develop this connectivity through DPS and just a tourist destination but as a transit point for Townsvillians travelling to/from further destinations in Asia and Europe. However I'm unsure if Jetstar's interline agreements and Bali Airport transit facilities are ready for this.
I have read conflicting information about if Bali has a transit lounge and whether luggage can in fact be 'checked through'. The connection From Europe on Emirates is okay, Emirates’ new daily flight to Bali arrives at DPS 2140hrs, The JQ flight to Townsville leaves Bali at 0230 arriving at TSV at 0915. I hope that Townsville Enterprises will work with Jetstar to market this possible connection. I know that some people will say well why not just fly through Brisbane both ways?
The concern is that the last airline that tried to fly TSV-DPS was only achieving 60% load factors during the non peak season, and it seems that the many people from Townsville that travel to other destinations in Asia might choose to fly through Bali to keep the route alive. Parochialism runs strong up north! It would be interesting to know the load factors on the JQ Bali flight that commenced in Dec 2014 to determine whether TSV will be in the long run sustainable.
