Jetstar Locks in Status as Top International Carrier at Cairns

Jetstar operated its first service on the Christchurch (CHC) – Cairns (CNS) city pair on April 2, 2025. The thrice weekly flights will operate all year round. The flights cement Jetstar’s status as the dominant international operator at Cairns and adds 70,000 seats to the airport’s annual seat capacity count.

JQ135 will depart Cairns late every Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday evening and arrive in Christchurch the following morning in time for breakfast. The 186-passenger A320-200 will spend 60 minutes on the ground in Christchurch before turning around to operate JQ136 back to Cairns, arriving there later in the morning.

Jetstar is operating with the support of the Queensland Government’s Attracting Aviation Investment Fund, which, for a period of time, will subsidise the cost of operating the route. Jetstar is the first and only airline flying the route

Cairns Airport is now enjoying its best international traffic numbers in almost 20 years and is on track to move around 730,000 passengers through its international terminal this financial year.

Four foreign airlines now fly into Cairns, up from . A fifth, Fiji Airways, will join Singapore Airlines, AirAsia, Air Niugini, Air New Zealand next week. Here’s a breakdown:

- Air New Zealand is operating twice-weekly A320-200neo roundtrips between Cairns and Auckland (AKL);

- Air Niugini is operating nine roundtrips per week between Cairns and Port Moresby (POM) using a mix of F70 and F100 aircraft;

- Singapore Airlines is now operating four weekly roundtrips between Cairns and Singapore (SIN) using an A350-900, having upsized the operating aircraft from a B737-8;

- AirAsia recently started thrice weekly roundtrips between Cairns and Denpasar (DPS) using A320-200 aircraft; and

- On April 8, Fiji Airways will start its thrice-weekly roundtrips between Cairns and Nadi (NAN) using B737-8s. The flights offer a cunning one-stop option between North America and the Great Barrier Reef.

In addition to Christchurch, Australian low-cost carrier Jetstar flies between Cairns and Denpasar three times per week using one of its new A321-200neo aircraft. Jetstar also flies between Cairns and Kansai (KIX) four times each week using a B787-8 and Cairns and Tokyo Narita (NRT) daily, also using a B787-8.

However, two airlines have recently ended international flights to and from Cairns. Cathay Pacific recently concluded its thrice weekly seasonal services between Cairns and Hong Kong (HKG) using A330-300s. The flights operated between December 17, 2024, and March 29, 2025, and marked Cathay’s return to Cairns after a five-year absence. The airline may return to Cairns for another season later this year.

Virgin Australia also recently ended its Cairns to Tokyo Haneda (HND) flights after Queensland Government funding dried up, and the service failed to attract the amount of inbound Japanese travellers that VA’s business plan had projected.

Including Fiji Airways, the six existing international carriers servicing Cairns offer over 16,000 seats each week in and out of the airport on around 75 flights. Jetstar has the biggest presence at the international terminal, with around 60% of the total weekly seat capacity. Purely on a seat capacity basis, Jetstar is followed by Singapore Airlines (15%), Air Niugini (10%), AirAsia (7%), Fiji Airways (4%), and Air New Zealand (4%).