Pacific Airlines, based in Vietnam, has re-launched itself under Jetstar. The airline aims to incorporate the Qantas group into itself as Jetstar Pacific. Qantas has an 18% stake in Jetstar Pacific, but it has been reported that Qantas will increase their share hold to 30% by 2010.

Air travel is becoming increasingly popular in South East Asia and Vietnam will be the first country in the area to launch the first budget carrier. Luong Hoai Nam, CEO of Jetstar Pacific said that the new cheap airline will introduce the possibility to fly to many Vietnamese, as currently many do not opt for air travel due to expensive ticket fares. He expects that with a fresh line of attack to sell tickets, and the newly characterized ticket offices, Jetstar Pacific will make a radical change to Vietnam’s aviation industry.

Jetstar has also re-launched its website so agents can book Jetstar’s services online. Agents can register with Jetstar Pacific earning them commission from each successful booking. Jetstar Pacific has 4 Boeing 737’s in its fleet and will add a B737 this month. The airline plans to include 30 Airbus A320’s to its fleet, which are scheduled to be delivered in 2014.

Jetstar Pacific will run domestically and develop the company further into Thailand, Cambodia and Singapore. Once these routes are established Jetstar Pacific, with its connections to Qantas, has potential to dominate South East Asia’s aviation industry.

www.jetstar.com