LONDON – Jetstar is targeting 120% of its domestic pre-COVID capacity by Easter.

Jetstar’s CEO, Gareth Evans, told journalists that they are currently a “bit below” its pre-pandemic levels, but they are seeing a huge demand in bookings for the upcoming holidays.

It came on the day that Jetstar announced its return to the Indonesian island of Bali in 2 years when the Indonesian government announced the relaxation of its quarantine rules.

Evans has said that the airline would restart its flights to the resorts from Melbourne to Sydney and Perth at the beginning of April and Queensland from hopefully May onwards.

“If we hadn’t learned flexibility before COVID, we’ve certainly learned flexibility through COVID and Bali is a case in point,” he said.

“We’ll continue to monitor it and we will try and get as much capacity on as we possibly can, as early as we can.

“It’s been a roller coaster that has been up and down through COVID. I think we’re probably all feeling hopeful that we’re seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.”

Indonesia dropped its mandatory quarantine rule at the beginning of this month and reinstated its visa-on-arrival process for travelers from Australia and 23 other countries.

The visa costs $50 and is valid for 30 days. Passengers that have arrived must take a COVID test at the airport and those wishing to travel further domestically must wait until their third day to take a PCR test before they can continue their journey.

Jetstar’s sister airline Qantas will also expand its international network in the coming months. Qantas is going to reinstate its Brisbane-Singapore, Sydney-Manila, and Sydney-Jakarta routes.

According to an Australia Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) report, it has been shown that after a careful examination of the domestic market, it has been found that Virgin Australia is currently dominating the domestic market, with a market share of 34% in 2021, up from just 22% back in 2020 after the airline exited administration in November 2020.