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More Aussies are likely to catch direct flights to Phuket from Melbourne

UPDATE Phuket Melbourne Direct Flights Likely to Boost Australian Tourist Numbers

Thursday, September 5, 2013
UPDATING All Day, Every Day

JETSTAR also drops a very strong hint that it will fly its new Dreamliner 787s to Honolulu and Phuket from the start of February, reports one Australian aviation expert.

Original Report

PHUKET: Jetstar is to launch twice-weekly non-stop flights between Melbourne and Phuket from December, boosting the island's appeal for Australian tourists.

The Qantas off-shoot will operate two flights each week to Phuket from December 14, rising to three in March.

''We see a lot of customers booking flights to Phuket via Sydney and Singapore so we've decided to add a non-stop flight for Victorians,'' said Jetstar Group chief commercial officer David Koczkar.

The direct Melbourne-Phuket flights are likely to tap passengers from the southern states of Australia who might previously have been put off by the need to fly to Sydney first.

Phuket-Melbourne hasn't been operated since Air Australia - previously Strategic - went belly up in February last year, stranding passengers on Phuket.

The fledgling airline - which also linked Phuket and Brisbane direct - wasn't equipped to handle breakdowns.

Jetstar is larger and much more efficient. The Australian carrier is engaged in a struggle with AirAsia and other no-frills carriers for the hearts, minds and bums of passengers throughout Asia.

From December 19 Jetstar will add a fourth weekly flight between Melbourne and Honolulu and a sixth weekly flight between Melbourne and Singapore.

The additional A330 services will operate until the end of January.

In a separate announcement, Jetstar Asia said it will add 18 weekly flights from Singapore to Indonesia, Cambodia and China from October 27 following the arrival of two more A320s.

Comments

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More Aussie tourists we need a full time Consulate in Phuket !!!

Posted by Anonymous on September 5, 2013 11:42

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I would like to know, where Australians will stay if only Russian, Korean and Chinese markets already got about 70% of allotment from hotels for high season.

Posted by Stranger on September 5, 2013 16:40

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Q1: Are there any nationalities with permanent consular officials on Phuket?

Q2: In other parts of the world, does every tourist destination have permanent consular officials present?

I suspect that there is no real need for such in most tourist locations, so why should Phuket be a special case?

Posted by Logic on September 5, 2013 17:54

Editor Comment:

I guess you enjoy the trip to Bangkok to renew your passport or negotiate a visa for a friend, Logic. As a prosperous country, Australia lags way behind other countries with smaller numbers of visitors to Phuket. Norway, Sweden, Germany, the Netherlands, Japan and Korea are among those with specific facilities. I think Brazil recently opened an office. The Chinese Embassy is looking to open a consulate and the Russians already have a fully-staffed office. In Bali, Australia has a consulate-general. Australians on Phuket are short-changed by comparison. Honorary consuls are everywhere.

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Ed: Thanks for the clear reply. I genuinely did not know.

As a point of interest, it is no longer possible to get a passport renewal in any UK embassy in SE Asia.

All applications get sent to Hong Kong (FCO) for processing, by DHL at the expense of the applicant. It's a slow process. Cheaper & quicker to do it in UK nowadays.

Posted by Logic on September 5, 2013 21:02


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