Jetstar will launch direct flights from Melbourne to Busselton, the gateway to the Margaret River region in Western Australia. The 3x weekly flights will commence from 25 March 2020 and run on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays.
The new Jetstar flights will be the first commercial air services from the east coast of Australia to Margaret River. An Airbus A320 with 180 Economy seats will serve the route. Busselton Airport (IATA code: BQB) is being upgraded in preparation for the route launch.
The Margaret River region of Western Australia is a tourist hotspot, popular for its wineries and beaches. But it’s a 3-hour drive from the nearest major airport of Perth. So, the new route will be very convenient for visitors to the region and Margaret River residents travelling to Melbourne alike.
The new flights are expected to deliver an enormous tourism boost for the Margaret River region. Jetstar estimates that the Melbourne-Busselton flights will deliver an additional 60,000 tourists to the region over the next three years, brining in $40 million for the WA economy.
It is curious to see Jetstar operating the route to Margaret River, which is likely to attract premium leisure traffic, rather than its parent company Qantas. Jetstar does not offer Business class on its A320 aircraft.
Jetstar is currently offering launch fares on selected dates from $89 one-way, or $75 for Club Jetstar members. This sale ends on 8 October 2019, or until sold out. Outside of this sale, the regular fares on the route appear to be starting at $192 one-way, excluding baggage and any Jetstar bundles.
At the time of writing, Classic Flight Reward seats for booking with Qantas points had not yet been loaded for the Busselton flights. Once award seats are released, we expect they will cost 14,400 Qantas Frequent Flyer points and around $28 in taxes and charges, one-way.
The initial schedule for Jetstar’s Melbourne-Busselton flights is as follows:
- JQ900 Melbourne 08:00 – Busselton 09:05 (4 hours, 5 minutes)
- JQ901 Busselton 09:40 – Melbourne 16:10 (3 hours, 30 minutes)
Join the discussion on the Australian Frequent Flyer forum: JQ begins selling MEL-BQB (Busselton WA)
