Fleet and capacity trends underline Qantas Group’s Jetstar growth push

Although the Qantas Group has experienced robust international capacity growth overall, it is one of multiple Asia Pacific airlines that are channelling more expansion to their low cost units than to the full service legacy brands.

As one of the region's pioneers in the multi-model approach, Qantas has long benefitted from its flexibility to allocate investment and capacity growth among its subsidiaries, depending on prevailing markets and economic conditions.

Other notable examples of Asia Pacific airlines that are placing increasing emphasis on LCC units in the post-pandemic environment include Cathay Pacific and the Japanese majors, All Nippon Airways and Japan Airlines.

During its latest earnings presentation, the Qantas Group reported slightly stronger international capacity growth for Jetstar Airways than for Qantas Airways for the six months through 30-Jun-2024 (its fiscal second half).

Data from CAPA - Centre for Aviation and OAG show that this trend has continued, with a more recent snapshot showing Jetstar with significantly higher international growth than Qantas versus both last year 2023 and 2019.

Qantas predicts a larger increase for the LCC in the current fiscal year, with Jetstar international again expanding more quickly than its full service sibling.

Meanwhile, aircraft delivery forecasts reinforce the Jetstar growth trend.