On November 6, Jetstar announced a brand-new route. Beginning in March, Qantas’ lower-cost unit will fly from Sunshine Coast—Australia’s tenth-busiest airport by passenger traffic—to Bali and on to Singapore. Bali is to Australians what Cancun is to Americans and Malaga is to Europeans. It will surely make my celebratory Weekly Routes article (see the most recent edition).
It will be the first time that the Sunshine Coast, not too far from Brisbane, has had two international routes. And the nonstop leg to Indonesia will, of course, be by far the airport’s longest-ever scheduled service. It comes amid other notable developments recently. For example, the Gold Coast recently gained Bali service. Newcastle also did, becoming its new longest-ever international service. Conversely, Adelaide just welcomed its shortest international link to Christchurch.
Sunny Coast’s New Long 1-Stop A321LR Service
The brand-new route will cover 3,308 nautical miles (6,126 km) each way. It will start on March 24, just before southern carriers switch to winter schedules, based on IATA slot seasons. Flights will run three times a week on Jetstar’s 232-seat Airbus A321LRs. The high-capacity, all-economy equipment has very low seat-mile costs. I recently examined Air Astana’s very long A321LR-operated flights to London Heathrow.
Booking data for Sunny Coast to Bali and 
Singapore is virtually nonexistent. But this is for one reason: nearly everyone drives to Brisbane to have nonstop flights. Such leakage data is unavailable. What is clear is that Jetstar will very easily grow demand from its new service.
The new operation is scheduled as follows. The aircraft will originate in Changi and operate back there. Including the ground time in Bali, the service to Singapore is timed at 10h 50m. The airline and the Sunchine Coast are suggesting passengers may continue beyond Lion City. They may do so, with Qantas’ London Heathrow flights reasonably well-timed, particularly from the UK.
|
Days |
Leg |
Local Times In April* |
|---|---|---|
|
Wednesdays, Fridays, Sundays |
Singapore-Bali |
JQ87: 19:25-22:20 |
|
Wednesdays, Fridays, Sundays |
Bali-Sunshine Coast |
JQ87: 23:50-07:30+1 |
|
Mondays, Thursdays, Saturdays |
Sunshine Coast-Bali |
JQ86: 09:10-13:35 |
|
Mondays, Thursdays, Saturdays |
Bali-Singapore |
JQ86: 15:05-18:00 |
Newcastle Just Welcomed Its Longest-Ever International Service
On October 20, 2025, Jetstar took off from Bali to Newcastle. It became the first time the market had ever had nonstop service. To celebrate, a traditional water arch salute was performed. While commonplace worldwide, Newcastle stated that it was the first time it had ever had one.
The new link covers 2,491 nautical miles (4,613 km) each way. Jetstar’s A321LRs serve it three times weekly. It is, of course, scheduled like Sunny Coast’s new offering. In November, JQ89 leaves Indonesia at 22:20 and arrives in Newcastle at 07:15+1 local time. Returning, JQ88 departs at 09:30 and gets to Bali at 13:05 local time. It is timed at up to 6h 35m.
Significantly, it marked Newcastle’s return to international operations. According to Cirium Diio data, it had Virgin Australia flights to Auckland between 2018 and 2020. While Norfolk Island was served by various operators from 2007 to 2012, it is considered domestic. Bali flights became by far Newcastle’s longest-ever international offering.
Adelaide Gets New Shortest International Flights
On October 28, Air New Zealand took off from Christchurch to Adelaide. It is served twice a week on A320ceos. Covering 1,653 nautical miles (3,061 km) each way, it is South Australia’s shortest-ever international link. In 2024, booking data shows the market had around 20,000 round-trip indirect passengers. It was Adelaide’s largest unserved short-haul international market.
Until that route launched, flights to Auckland necessarily covered the least distance internationally. On October 31, that city pair gained a second operator again, with Qantas’ return. That carrier runs four times weekly on the Boeing 737-800, competing against Air New Zealand’s six weekly operation on the A320neo/A321neo.
