Jetstar will enter Sri Lanka for the first time in August 2026 with three weekly Melbourne to Colombo flights, creating Australia’s only low-cost nonstop service on the route.
The move will inject more than 100,000 seats a year into a market long shaped by premium pricing and one-stop itineraries, with immediate consequences for leisure, VFR demand and competitive fare structures across South Asia out of Australia.
Jetstar confirmed the route will begin on 25 August 2026 with year-round operations from Melbourne Tullamarine, moving first into a corridor that has remained conspicuously absent of low-cost direct access despite sustained diaspora traffic and rising leisure demand, a gap that has quietly supported higher average fares and longer journey times.
Jetstar CEO, Stephanie Tully, said the airline’s Melbourne to Colombo route will give Australians a new, direct and affordable way to take off more to Sri Lanka.
“Colombo is an incredible destination, and from August next year, we’re excited to be making it easier for Aussies to experience everything the beautiful country of Sri Lanka has to offer.”
Inside the aircraft
The airline will operate the service on its Boeing 787 Dreamliner fleet, which is undergoing a staged cabin refit from early 2026, including more than doubling business class seat counts, adding Wi-Fi for personal device streaming and introducing a lie-flat crew rest area that lifts operational range to flights of up to 16 hours. The first upgraded aircraft is scheduled to arrive in Melbourne in late March 2026, with the Colombo service operating across both upgraded and existing 787s as the program rolls through the fleet.
From a product perspective, the refit sharpens Jetstar’s hand on long-haul sectors where soft product has historically capped corporate and premium leisure penetration. Doubling business class seat inventory is a structural shift in revenue mix, signalling greater confidence in higher-yield travellers on routes once dominated by price-only passengers. Wi-Fi adds quiet competitive pressure across peer long-haul leisure networks where connectivity is now expected rather than optional.
Why this move sharpens Jetstar’s long-haul strategy
The Colombo entry marks Jetstar’s 14th new route announcement in 2025 and sits inside a two-year expansion run that has added 26 routes and 13 aircraft, with fleet growth and route discovery moving in lockstep. Sri Lanka arrives as Jetstar’s 10th international destination from Melbourne, reinforcing Tullamarine’s role as a primary outbound leisure engine.
“This new route out of our home base of Melbourne is part of a huge growth phase for Jetstar,” Tully said.
“We’ve added new destinations, more aircraft and we’re continuing to expand our international network to give travellers even more choice and opportunities to take off for less.”
Jetstar forecasts this December and January peak will be its largest on record, carrying almost six million passengers across its Australian, New Zealand, Japan and international network, including a record 1.7 million through Melbourne alone. The Colombo announcement lands inside that capacity surge, reinforcing the airline’s habit of pairing network reveal with peak-travel momentum to lock in public confidence around growth.
How does the sale strategy shape early demand?
The opening price signal lands sharply with one-way introductory fares from $315 in a 24-hour launch sale opening at midday AEDT today, excluding checked baggage and subject to standard payment conditions, a threshold that materially resets how Sri Lanka can be packaged and sold from Victoria.
The launch fares open the demand funnel aggressively. For agents, the early mover advantage sits in packaging certainty. Fixed nonstop access enables cleaner land content builds, more reliable group planning and sharper lead-in windows for shoulder season departures. The sale structure also creates immediate urgency across both leisure and visiting friends and relatives traffic, segments that historically move late and price-first.
Flight schedules (initial operating window)
| Flight | Route | Days | Depart | Arrive | Aircraft |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| JQ5 | Melbourne to Colombo | Tue, Thu, Sat | 12:00 | 17:50 | Boeing 787 |
| JQ6 | Colombo to Melbourne | Tue, Thu, Sat | 19:50 | 10:00+1 | Boeing 787 |
Operational and regulatory approvals apply. Schedule valid for 25 August to 3 October 2026. Other periods vary based on daylight savings.
KARRYON UNPACKS: This is pure price-led demand stimulation into a long underserved VFR and leisure market, with scale that will force a reset across one-stop competitors.
