‘Business class' for half the price of others, but no lie-flat seat
The Airline: Jetstar
Route Sydney to Seoul, flight JQ47
Frequency Four flights a week (plus three from Brisbane)
Aircraft Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner
Class Business; seat 3F
Flight time 10 hours, 11 minutes. We depart 30 minutes late and arrive 45 minutes behind schedule
Checking in
I'm connecting from Melbourne, so I have an early morning departure. Jetstar does not check bags through from domestic to international connections, which means collecting my luggage in Sydney and catching the free airport bus to the international terminal (you can also take the train, but you'll have to pay at least $7.30 to go one stop). At the international check-in, business class passengers have a dedicated lane, and there's no queue.
The same can't be said for security and immigration, with the queue, hundreds of metres long, wrapping around the whole terminal. It moves along at a reasonable pace, but eventually I, like many others, am advised by staff to skip ahead lest we miss our flights.
Baggage
Business class passengers are given some reprieve from Jetstar's notoriously stingy (and strictly enforced) baggage limits – up to 30 kilograms of checked luggage and 14 kilograms of carry-on.
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Ms Burke said in the 18 months her business had been open, their customer base was already 60 per cent international, with guests from Indonesia and other Southeast Asian countries. "This is definitely helping put us on the map with international tourism," she said. The tour operator said when pitching to overseas agencies, an international airport along with the city's beaches piqued their interest. "They start to consider us for itineraries and options for their guests travelling to Australia," she said. Noah's On The Beach Hotel in Newcastle and Hunter Travel Group (HTG) also celebrated the new service. "This is a game-changer for travellers in the Hunter Region, offering the convenience of flying overseas straight from our own backyard - no more battling Sydney traffic or lengthy airport commutes," HTG managing director Brett Dann said. The new route offers connections from more than 40 countries and would take just over six hours. 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