China’s Juneyao Air takes over Jetstar Asia’s Singapore-Wuxi route in August
The service will have four flights a week with Airbus A320neo aircraft
[SINGAPORE] Shanghai-based airline Juneyao Air will start services between Singapore and Wuxi on Aug 29.
This service was one of four exclusive routes flown from Singapore by low-cost carrier Jetstar Asia, which is part of Qantas-owned Jetstar. Jetstar Asia will cease to operate on Jul 31.
Juneyao, using Airbus A320neo aircraft, will fly four times weekly between the two cities: flight HO1561 from Wuxi to Singapore, and flight HO1562 from Singapore to Wuxi.
Wuxi is a city in the Jiangsu province of China. Juneyao last flew the Singapore-Wuxi route in July 2021 in a one-off charter flight. Before the pandemic, Singapore-based low-cost carrier Scoot operated a regular service on the route.
Analyst Brendan Sobie said that while Juneyao is not a major China carrier, it is nonetheless expanding internationally, with Australia and South-east Asia being important strategic markets.
As China’s travel demand has recovered since Covid-19, Juneyao has ramped up flights in the Asia-Pacific region, adding routes connecting China to Melbourne, Sydney, Bangkok and Vientiane in late 2024, as well as to Penang in June and Kuala Lumpur in July.
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Founded in 2005 as Juneyao Airlines and listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange, it is owned by Shanghai Juneyao Group, a conglomerate which has subsidiaries in financial services, consumer goods and education services.
Juneyao has a fleet of around 100 aircraft, compared to major China carriers such as China Eastern Airlines, which has more than 660 aircraft. It serves the China domestic market and international destinations in Europe, Oceania and South-east Asia.
Scoot is taking two other Jetstar Asia exclusive routes – Singapore-Labuan Bajo and Singapore-Okinawa – with plans to begin in October.
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So far, no airline has announced plans to step in for the last Jetstar Asia exclusive route of Singapore-Broome.
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