JetStar Airways (JQ, Melbourne Tullamarine) are set to receive their first B787-8 at the end of September 2013 with operations likely to start in November, sources have said. The aircraft will initially be operated domestically, likely from to Coolangatta/Gold Coast and Cairns, before it is used on international routes. The carrier's first of three 787s due this year is in the final stages of assembly at Boeing's Everett facility.

JetStar Hong Kong (Hong Kong Chep Lap Kok) has moved to invite local Hong Kong-based investors to come onboard the project as a means of speeding up regulatory approval, which has seen the airline defer its launch date from June, to later this year owing to ongoing bureaucratic delays. The company - owned by China Eastern Airlines (MU, Shanghai Hongqiao) and JetStar Airways (JQ, Melbourne Tullamarine), a unit of Qantas (QF, Sydney Kingford Smith) - lodged its application for an operating licence more than six months ago but has since been told by city officials that further setbacks could be assuaged should it find local investors, using Cathay Pacific (CX, Hong Kong Chep Lap Kok) and its shareholding as a point of reference. Analysts in the industry however, point to the delays as being a possible protectionist move by government to remove the threat to local carrier, Cathay Pacific. They claim that JetStar's establishment could set a dangerous precedent for other LCCs looking to open up a base at Hong Kong Chep Lap Kok.

Qantas (QF, Sydney Kingford Smith) has been approached by investors looking for a shareholding in its planned LCC joint venture with China Eastern Airlines (MU, Shanghai Hongqiao), dubbed JetStar Hong Kong (Hong Kong Chep Lap Kok). Qantas Chief Executive Officer Alan Joyce told a Macquarie Group conference that "unnamed investors" had already offered more for their stakes in JetStar Hong Kong than Qantas had invested, despite the airline still awaiting regulatory approval. Both Qantas and China Eastern will each invest up to USD 99 million over three years to set up a JetStar Hong Kong. JetStar Airways (JQ, Melbourne Tullamarine), run by Jayne Hrdlicka, now accounts for 20% of revenue and 31% of operating income at struggling Qantas, who are now seriously pushing to tap Asian demand for budget flights, which has more than doubled low-cost carriers’ share of regional traffic since 2007.

JetStar Airways (JQ, Melbourne Tullamarine) is apparently considering expanding within New Zealand with evaluation of possible regional markets already on-going reports in the New Zealand Herald have stated. The paper claims that with New Zealand airports "crying out" for new services, the Australian carrier would "presumably need new planes" - likely Dash 8-400s - from its parent, Qantas (QF, Sydney Kingford Smith) in order to satisfy strong market demand, which has experienced 20% growth over the last year. JetStar current New Zealand network consists of Auckland Int'l, Christchurch, Wellington, Dunedin and Queenstown.

Qantas (QF, Sydney Kingford Smith) has confirmed that plans to launch a premium carrier in Singapore have been rejected by the authorities there, though this will not deter the Australian carrier's operations there, Qantas' head of International Operations, Simon Hickey, has said. Having already increased seating to the region by 40%, Hickey added that Qantas intends to tap strong growth in Asia by working closely with its low-cost arm JetStar Asia Airways (3K, Singapore Changi) and JetStar Airways (JQ, Melbourne Tullamarine) in the region but refuted speculation that this could entail setting up Qantas bases in Kuala Lumpur Int'l and Hong Kong Chep Lap Kok. In addition to its recently announced partnership with Emirates (EK, Dubai Int'l), the loss-making Oneworld carrier's new focus on the Asian market ("flying to Asia" as opposed to "through Asia") has begun to bear fruit with Qantas Group reporting profits in all parts of its business in the six months to the end of December, except Qantas International, which posted a before-tax loss of A$91 million (USD 96 million).