Jetstar is likely to establish a second A320/A321 maintenance base on the east coast to support its growing fleet of narrowbodies.
“We’re far down the track in terms of evaluation of options but we’ve got a broad set of options and they include all the major centres on the east coast,” Jetstar chief executive Bruce Buchanan told The Australian. “We’re looking at Sydney, Melbourne and the Gold Coast for the three primary options.”
The airline currently operates a heavy maintenance facility at a hangar initially built for Impulse Airlines at Newcastle, but with aggressive fleet expansion for its own fleet it says that it needs a second heavy maintenance base, which could also become a training centre for the airline. The facility could also be used for heavy maintenance on the A320s operated by Jetstar Asia or other third parties.
Buchanan recently announced that Jetstar and Jetstar Asia were taking steps to align their maintenance programs for their narrowbody fleets after a maintenance contract with the Singaporean carrier and ST Aero expires. He noted that this could lead to some Jetstar Asia aircraft receiving their heavy checks in Australia and New Zealand as the group now had more flexibility to rotate aircraft between the two operators.
