Qantas has applied to the International Air Services Commission (IASC) seeking a variation which would allow Jetstar to codeshare on the Singapore-Mumbai leg of its services from Brisbane.
In its submission to the IASC, Qantas says that it expects Jetstar to start codesharing on the Singapore-Mumbai service as soon as it is granted approval to do so. Qantas also notes that it has applied to the Department of Infrastructure to have Jetstar designated under the Australia-India bilateral agreement.
Qantas currently operates three weekly A330-300 services to Mumbai, which operate on a Brisbane-Singapore-Mumbai routing, while it also codeshares on Jet Airways’s services from Singapore. Singapore based Jetstar Asia, which is 49 per cent owned by Qantas, has flagged plans to increase its capacity to India this year as it takes delivery of more A320s.
It appears that the codeshare agreement may assist Jetstar in establishing its presence in the Indian market ahead of launching its own services, while the low cost carrier is also expected to offer connections via Singapore on its services from Perth and Darwin.
