Flight JQ88 to Denpasar took off shortly after 10:15am on Tuesday aboard the A321neo LR VH-OYW, with all four of Newcastle’s weekly Bali services now continuing on to Changi Airport. Jetstar has increased from three to four Newcastle-Bali flights per week after launching the route last year.

“We’re thrilled to be launching this new service from Newcastle as we continue to grow Jetstar’s network. There’s strong demand in the Hunter for more low fares and more choice, and this route delivers exactly that,” said Jetstar head of network, strategy and fleet planning Ted Knight.

“With a smooth connection through Denpasar, customers can now travel from Newcastle to Singapore, giving them even more great value options to explore new destinations.

“By keeping fares low and expanding our network, we’re creating more opportunities for people to take off more, for less.”

Newcastle Airport opened its new international terminal in September, and CEO Linc Horton said the new route gives locals the opportunity to connect through Bali and Singapore without having to travel via Sydney.

“They say if you build it, they will come; at Newcastle Airport we built an international airport and today the Hunter region is flying to both Bali and Singapore, with more opportunities on the horizon,” he said.

“The Hunter is a region of travellers, with more than 789,000 passengers travelling between our region and Europe, the Middle East and Asia last financial year alone, enough to fill 60 Singapore Airlines A350 aircraft every week.

“These travellers are already flying through other airports, so imagine how many more holidays, business trips and family reunions will be created when those journeys can begin right here in Newcastle with direct connections.”

According to Newcastle Airport chair Samantha Martin-Williams, the new route “connects travellers across the Hunter, Central Coast and Mid North Coast to Singapore Changi Airport and its global network of more than 170 destinations, opening new pathways for tourism, trade and investment”.

“At Newcastle Airport, we made a deliberate decision to invest in international capability because we believed our region would respond and it has,” she said.

“In less than a year of strong demand for our Bali service, we are now seeing that confidence translate into expanded connectivity through to Singapore.

“This route strengthens our region’s ability to attract visitors, support local businesses and create jobs; both at the airport and across the broader visitor economy. It also sends a clear signal to international airlines that the Hunter is a growing, globally connected market.

“Strong performance on these services brings us closer to securing a direct Singapore route and even greater opportunities for our region.”

With the launch of the Newcastle route, Singapore’s Changi Airport is now connected to nine Australian cities, the others being Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide, Darwin, Cairns, and the Sunshine Coast.

Credits: JetStar

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During its flight from Auckland on 31 May 2024 one of the aeroplane’s three hydraulic systems failed, disabling nosewheel steering and the right engine’s thrust reverser. The flight crew followed standard operating procedures and continued with the flight to land at Christchurch where they planned to use differential braking to steer off the runway on to the rapid exit taxiway.

The landing went according to plan until the turn when the crew lost directional control and the aeroplane veered off the taxiway, hit an aerodrome signboard and continued across the grass until stopping back on the main runway. Nobody was injured but hitting the sign caused significant damage to an engine.

The Commission found the captain had unintentionally moved the thrust levers from maximum reverse to climb power when they meant to move the levers to forward idle for taxiing. The lever position went unnoticed, the engines responded and the aeroplane accelerated.

Chief Investigator of Accidents Louise Cook says it’s likely the engines spooling up startled the pilot, who responded instinctively, pulling both thrust levers back to maximum reverse. This produced reverse thrust on the left, but – due to the hydraulic failure – forward thrust on the right, and created a leftward turning force. “On the face of it, this option appeared safe and achievable to the pilots because Airbus documentation, repeated in Jetstar’s Flight Crew Techniques Manual, provided no guidance on use of differential braking specifically for steering off the runway via a rapid exit. The pilots could have planned to stop on the runway and wait for a tow but to avoid blocking the runway and delaying other flights, they opted for the rapid exit they had often used before. They were likely so focused on making that exit that they missed important cues that the position of the thrust levers was not as intended.”

To prevent a reoccurrence, Jetstar have since changed their guidance to flight crews who find themselves in a similar situation. Airbus has accepted the Commission’s recommendation to revise aircraft manuals and instructor guidance to mitigate the risk that other pilots may move the thrust levers while on the ground to an unintended position, which would lead to an unexpected increase in engine thrust. Airbus plans to do this in April and May 2026.

This accident also highlights the importance of maintenance engineers conducting a detailed inspection of new parts for potential damage before installation. In this case, a titanium hydraulic pipe was just 1mm out of shape – slightly oval, not round. It is very likely the deformity occurred when the pipe’s packaging was damaged in transit between Airbus warehouses in 2015. The damage was not detected before or after installation and failed after 18 months of service.

Credits: JetStar

The post Jetstar changes pilot guidance after 2024 NZ runway incident first appeared on AircrewNews.com.