Jetstar Asia airline to fly in December

SINGAPORE, Sept. 29 (UPI) -- Singapore-based low budget airline Jetstar Asia will start flying in December to destinations within five hours of Singapore, the company said Wednesday.

Destinations have yet to be agreed with the Ministry of Transport.

The airline announced that 45 experienced pilots had already been recruited and over 50 cabin crew members were currently in training, with more to join the airline in the coming months.

The airline is a partnership between Qantas (49 percent), Singaporean businessmen Tony Chew (22 percent) and F.F. Wong (10 percent), and Temasek Holdings (19 percent), the investment arm of the government, which also has a stake in Singapore Airlines, Silkair and TigerAirways.

"This is going to be a very, very substantial airline," Geoff Dixon, CEO of Qantas Airways and chairman of Jetstar Asia, said at a press conference.

The airline will launch its first services with a fleet of four leased Airbus A320 aircraft and plans to take delivery of another four aircraft by mid-2005. Within three years, it plans to have more than 20 aircraft.

Jetstar Asia will be the third low-cost airline to be launched this year out of Singapore after Valuair and TigerAirways.