Jetstar is gaining ground in Australia\u2019s corporate travel market as cost-conscious businesses look for cheaper ways to keep employees travelling, according to CT Partners CEO Matt Masson.<\/strong><\/p>\n Masson told Travel Weekly<\/em> the low-cost carrier had picked up corporate business over the past two years, with the shift particularly noticeable following Rex\u2019s exit from the market.<\/p>\n \u201cSince Rex left the market, we have seen Jetstar kind of stepping in as a third corporate\u2026 airline partner,\u201d Masson said.<\/p>\n He said the shift was particularly evident among more price-sensitive SMEs looking to bring down travel costs.<\/p>\n \u201cThey don\u2019t necessarily cut the business travel out, but they might be looking at a more cost-effective solution.\u201d<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n Jetstar has said the expansion comes in response to growing demand for premium seats on longer-haul flights.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n The changes give Jetstar an increasingly interesting position in the corporate market: offering businesses a lower-cost alternative while simultaneously expanding its premium proposition.<\/p>\n Jetstar remains a relatively small part of CT Partners\u2019 corporate airline mix, with Qantas and Virgin Australia continuing to dominate.<\/p>\n Masson said CT Partners\u2019 share was roughly 60 per cent Qantas Group, including Jetstar, and 40 per cent Virgin Group.<\/p>\n \u201cI would say of that Qantas Group mix, the Jetstar [share] is much smaller, but it has grown in the last year or two,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Masson said improvements to Jetstar\u2019s network and distribution had also made the carrier more viable for corporate travel.<\/p>\n \u201cJetstar\u2019s really improved its route network both here in Australia and trans-Tasman,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cJetstar\u2019s 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.\u201d<\/p>\n The growth comes amid a strong year for corporate travel overall.<\/p>\n CT Partners\u2019 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.<\/p>\n \u201cCorporate travel outperformed leisure travel, particularly in the last quarter,\u201d Masson said.<\/p>\n \u201cAt the moment, the Australian business environment is still quite healthy.\u201d<\/p>\n Masson said that strength had continued into the new financial year, with July and August delivering two strong consecutive months.<\/p>\n \u201cThe corporate market, I\u2019d say, has been really resilient,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n The move towards Jetstar also comes as corporate travel buyers grapple with higher and increasingly unpredictable airfares.<\/p>\n At FCM Travel\u2019s Th!nk 2026 event in Sydney last month, airfare volatility emerged as the biggest concern among corporate travel buyers in a live poll.<\/p>\n FCM Strategy Lead Felicity Burke said Australian airlines had shifted away from pricing for market share towards recovering higher operating costs.<\/p>\n \u201cBoth carriers are pricing based on cost recovery. They\u2019re not pricing market share,\u201d Burke said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve always seen the price for market share, and that\u2019s not what\u2019s happening.\u201d<\/p>\n Masson said Qantas and Virgin remained highly focused on corporate customers despite those pressures.<\/p>\n \u201cI think both the main Australian carriers, like Qantas and Virgin, are very focused on the corporate market again,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s very competitive domestically.\u201d<\/p>\n For some businesses, however, the answer to rising costs appears to be changing how they travel rather than travelling less.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n kabarsula SLOT <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Jetstar is gaining ground in Australia\u2019s corporate travel market as cost-conscious businesses look for cheaper…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1026,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1025","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-kabarsula"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kabarsula.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1025","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kabarsula.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kabarsula.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kabarsula.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kabarsula.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1025"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kabarsula.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1025\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kabarsula.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1026"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kabarsula.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1025"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kabarsula.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1025"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kabarsula.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1025"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/travelweekly.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Matt-Masson.jpg\"\/)
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Qantas and Virgin still dominate<\/strong><\/h3>\n
![\"Qantas\"](\"https:\/\/travelweekly.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Cropped_Qantas-aircraft.png\"\/)
![\"Qantas\"](\"https:\/\/travelweekly.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Cropped_Qantas-aircraft.png\")
Corporate travel remains resilient<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Businesses look for savings as fares climb<\/strong><\/h3>\n
![\"FCM](\"https:\/\/travelweekly.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/IMG_3285-scaled.jpeg\"\/)
![\"FCM](\"https:\/\/travelweekly.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/IMG_3285-scaled.jpeg\")