Melbourne-Colombo flights already running near-full, beating expectations, says Jetstar’s Zeglin
Daily Mirror: Jetstar Airways’ inaugural Melbourne–Colombo flight touched down at Bandaranaike International Airport last week to a ceremony marking the airline’s entry into the Sri Lankan market.
Speaking to Daily Mirror Business on the sidelines of the event, Jetstar Airways Executive Manager Commercial Scott Zeglin said demand on the new route has already outpaced the airline’s own forecasts, even outside peak season.
“We were 92 percent full coming in, and 91 percent on the way out today. What we have noticed is that the flights have a good baseline load, but then they book really late too. With this inaugural flight, we were surprised how full it got, we weren’t expecting it to be this full, but it has been very, very strong,” Zeglin said.
The service, operated with a reconfigured widebody Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, runs three times weekly year-round and introduces more than 100,000 low-fare seats annually on the corridor, establishing Sri Lanka’s first low-cost direct link to Australia, though SriLankan Airlines already operates the route on a full-service basis. Jetstar’s pitch is squarely on price, with promotional launch fares starting from Rs. 67,770.
According to the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority (SLTDA), Australia is the island’s sixth-largest source market, generating 67,138 arrivals in the first seven months of 2026, up 11.1 percent year-on-year. The market’s underlying profile, however, is unusual: visiting friends and relatives (VFR) accounts for 34.21 percent of Australian arrivals against 57.72 percent travelling purely for leisure. While Victoria’s sizeable Sri Lankan expatriate community underpins a dependable passenger base, Zeglin said Jetstar’s low-fare model is designed to convert the broader Australian holidaymaker segment that has historically defaulted to Southeast Asian destinations.
Of the inaugural flight, Zeglin said about 85 percent of passengers were flying point-to-point between Melbourne and Colombo, with the remaining 15 percent connecting beyond Melbourne — roughly split between domestic Australia and New Zealand.
On whether Jetstar would add frequencies for the December–February peak season, Zeglin was measured, noting the thrice-weekly service must first prove its business case amid global cost volatility.
“Since we started planning this, we’ve had fuel go through the roof in terms of costs with the Middle East pieces,” he said. “We definitely need to make sure we can cover those increased cost pressures on the route, but so far, loads are good, revenue is good, and we’re very pleased with the performance.” He added that peak-season demand “is excellent, and we’re really looking forward to that.”
To build sustained leisure demand, Jetstar has partnered with tour operator Intrepid Travel, which brought organised tour groups on the inaugural service and ranks Sri Lanka as its fifth most popular destination for Australian travellers. The airline also hosted a delegation of Australian content creators and New Zealand journalists on the flight.
“That was really targeting Australian and New Zealand tourists who can go to Bali, can go to Thailand, can go anywhere in the Asia-Pacific,” Zeglin said. “A lot of travellers on full-service carriers are visiting friends and relatives or looking at higher price tiers. Our low-fare model allows Aussie leisure travellers looking for budget-friendly holidays to consider Sri Lanka. Someone once tried to describe Sri Lanka as ‘the Bali of 30 years ago’—and I said that doesn’t do Sri Lanka justice at all! Sri Lanka is way better than that.”
Qantas Group has previously used Jetstar’s low-cost network to test emerging leisure routes ahead of a possible mainline entry, and a senior Qantas Group Asset Management executive, Rohan Garnett, was part of the delegation that travelled with Zeglin.
The bilateral significance of the connection was echoed by Australian High Commissioner to Sri Lanka Matthew Duckworth, who drew parallels to the historic World War II “Double Sunrise” flights operated between Perth and Koggala Lake by Qantas and the Royal Australian Air Force, noting that as both nations approach the 80th anniversary of formal diplomatic ties next year, direct air links serve as an important bridge for trade, education and two-way tourism.
MJF Leisure Chair and Tourism Alliance Co-Chair Malik J. Fernando wrote in a social media post that direct services mark a structural shift for the industry. “Beyond the headlines, this is about reducing our historic overreliance on Middle East transit hubs, diversifying our source markets, and attracting the kind of direct-flight traveller who spends more once they’re here,” Fernando wrote. “Securing these routes is only half the job — it now falls to our industry to support them with sustained, targeted marketing so airlines have the confidence to stay and ideally go year-round.”
OSL take:
Jetstar Airways’ entry into the Sri Lankan market is more than a boost for tourism as it strengthens the country’s emerging proposition as a business and investment destination for Australian companies. The new Melbourne-Colombo service, operating three times a week year-round, provides more than 100,000 low-fare seats annually, significantly improving direct connectivity between Sri Lanka and Australia. Strong initial demand, with flights operating at more than 90 percent capacity, also signals the depth of commercial and tourism interest between the two markets. For Australian businesses/investors, improved air connectivity can reduce one of the practical barriers to expanding into Sri Lanka, making it easier for investors, executives, technical teams and business partners to travel between the two countries. This could support greater activity in tourism, hospitality, logistics, education, professional services, technology, agriculture, renewable energy and manufacturing. The stronger travel link also comes as Sri Lanka seeks to attract greater foreign direct investment (FDI) and deepen economic ties with Australia. Recent engagement between the Board of Investment and the Australian Trade and Investment Commission has focused specifically on improving investment promotion and attracting productive FDI. The combination of direct connectivity, a strategically located economy, an increasingly skilled workforce and expanding business/investment opportunities gives Australian businesses greater scope to view Sri Lanka not simply as a tourism destination, but as a potential regional business base and investment partner.
| Article Code : | VBS/AT/20260904Z_3 |