kabarsula Jetstar gains ground with business travellers as SMEs hunt for savings bandar SLOT INDONESIA

Jetstar is gaining ground in Australia’s corporate travel market as cost-conscious businesses look for cheaper ways to keep employees travelling, according to CT Partners CEO Matt Masson.

Masson told Travel Weekly the low-cost carrier had picked up corporate business over the past two years, with the shift particularly noticeable following Rex’s exit from the market.

“Since Rex left the market, we have seen Jetstar kind of stepping in as a third corporate… airline partner,” Masson said.

He said the shift was particularly evident among more price-sensitive SMEs looking to bring down travel costs.

“They don’t necessarily cut the business travel out, but they might be looking at a more cost-effective solution.”

The shift comes as Jetstar itself moves further into the premium market, more than doubling the size of the Business Class cabin on its refurbished Boeing 787 Dreamliners.

The airline is increasing Business Class capacity from 21 to 44 seats on the aircraft, an increase of around 110 per cent, as part of a wider refurbishment of its 787 fleet.

Jetstar has said the expansion comes in response to growing demand for premium seats on longer-haul flights.

It has also introduced Points Plus Pay for Business Class upgrades, allowing customers to bid for an upgrade using a combination of Qantas Points and cash.

The changes give Jetstar an increasingly interesting position in the corporate market: offering businesses a lower-cost alternative while simultaneously expanding its premium proposition.

Qantas and Virgin still dominate

Jetstar remains a relatively small part of CT Partners’ corporate airline mix, with Qantas and Virgin Australia continuing to dominate.

Masson said CT Partners’ share was roughly 60 per cent Qantas Group, including Jetstar, and 40 per cent Virgin Group.

“I would say of that Qantas Group mix, the Jetstar [share] is much smaller, but it has grown in the last year or two,” he said.

Masson said improvements to Jetstar’s network and distribution had also made the carrier more viable for corporate travel.

“Jetstar’s really improved its route network both here in Australia and trans-Tasman,” he said.

“Jetstar’s also made it easier for travel agents to work with them by putting their content into the GDS. You used to have to go to a separate portal to make all the bookings.”

Corporate travel remains resilient

The growth comes amid a strong year for corporate travel overall.

CT Partners’ corporate airline spend grew by around 15 per cent year-on-year in FY26, compared with around eight per cent for leisure and 11 per cent across the group.

“Corporate travel outperformed leisure travel, particularly in the last quarter,” Masson said.

“At the moment, the Australian business environment is still quite healthy.”

Masson said that strength had continued into the new financial year, with July and August delivering two strong consecutive months.

“The corporate market, I’d say, has been really resilient,” he said.

Businesses look for savings as fares climb

The move towards Jetstar also comes as corporate travel buyers grapple with higher and increasingly unpredictable airfares.

At FCM Travel’s Th!nk 2026 event in Sydney last month, airfare volatility emerged as the biggest concern among corporate travel buyers in a live poll.

FCM Strategy Lead Felicity Burke said Australian airlines had shifted away from pricing for market share towards recovering higher operating costs.

“Both carriers are pricing based on cost recovery. They’re not pricing market share,” Burke said.

“We’ve always seen the price for market share, and that’s not what’s happening.”

Masson said Qantas and Virgin remained highly focused on corporate customers despite those pressures.

“I think both the main Australian carriers, like Qantas and Virgin, are very focused on the corporate market again,” he said.

“It’s very competitive domestically.”

For some businesses, however, the answer to rising costs appears to be changing how they travel rather than travelling less.

And with Jetstar expanding its premium cabins at the same time as it gains corporate business, the low-cost carrier could be increasingly well placed to capture that demand.