Cyclone Jasper: Jetstar, Qantas, Virgin Australia flights resume at Cairns Airport
Flights will resume in and out of Cairns today after the domestic and international airport shut down for Tropical Cyclone Jasper on Wednesday.
Jasper made landfall at about 3pm on Wednesday, south of Wujal Wujal near Cape Tribulation. It remained at category 2 strength until about 9pm and is now, without the sea to feed it, an ex-tropical cyclone.
However, the Bureau of Meteorology has warned “impacts from heavy rainfall and damaging wind gusts are still likely”.
There are still cancellations dotted across Cairns Airport’s arrivals and departures board on Thursday but operations have restarted.
Qantas, Jetstar and Virgin Australia have confirmed services will restart this morning, with the first arrivals in Cairns at about 10am.
A Qantas flight from Brisbane landed just before 10am, followed by a Jetstar flight from Gold Coast and Virgin Australia flight from Sydney.
On Wednesday night, Cairns Airport had confirmed it would reopen the following day.
“The Cairns Airport Cyclone Committee, which includes numerous representatives from our airline partners, air traffic control, government agencies and refuelling companies, met this evening to review the outlook following landfall of TC Jasper,” an 8.15pm update on Wednesday read.
It said the airport would reopen on Thursday morning “subject to prevailing weather conditions” but told passengers to check with their airline directly for specific flight details. “Each airline will recommence operations at differing times over the next 24 hours,” the airport said.
“Safety is and remains our highest priority. Also, please remember to be careful on the roads if you are making your way to Cairns Airport.”
Passengers celebrated the news on the airport’s Facebook page.
“I’ve been delayed in Singapore for 24 hours – will be glad to get home,” wrote one traveller.
“Best news of the day. Looking forward to getting home,” said another.
“We are flying from Singapore tomorrow to see our family for Christmas so fingers crossed,” added a third.
There had been huge cancellations and delays from Tuesday through to Thursday due to the weather.
Virgin Australia told news.com.au the decision to resume operations on Thursday had followed a safety review.
“We are offering additional flexibility to support guests booked to travel to Cairns this week and we encourage guests to contact us, or their travel agent, to discuss their options,” a spokesman said.
Virgin customers booked to travel to or from Cairns up until Sunday can move their flight to another date within the next two weeks at no cost, subject to seat availability.
The airline will also waive change fees for passengers who choose to move their flight to a different destination but the fare difference may still apply.
Virgin customers on cancelled flights are moved to the next available flight, however if this is not suitable, the customer can request a refund or travel credit.
To make changes to their bookings, customers should contact Virgin’s Guest Contact Centre on 13 67 89 or their travel agent.
Jetstar customers with bookings to or from Cairns up to Sunday are also being offered the option to select another flight within 14 days of their original departure free of charge or bring their flight forward.
They can also request a voucher if they no longer wish to travel.
More Coverage
Jetstar is asking customers to contact them via the Live Chat on their website to make changes to their travel plan.
Qantas said customers who booked a flight to or from Cairns prior to December 11 for travel between Tuesday and Sunday can contact Qantas on 13 13 13 to discuss their options including a fee-free refund, travel credit or date change up to 14 days from date of travel, subject to availability.
Those who booked through a travel agent have been told to contact them directly.
ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7r7HWrGWcp51jrrZ706uYr52cZMGzrdWeo2atoJmutbHSaKmepJmas26t0madpaGXncG0edGeqq6llWKutXnCmqCrpqNirqq%2Bz6iprWWRm8GmvoycsJykn6OybrbArKeeql2otbbAw6iup2eemsS0edKtpquxX26Fdq%2FAb5ucamVts6WywZ9qnnBhaIJxhJVxaG1uZmWE