Bangkok--6 Sep--Aziam Burson-Marsteller Jetstar has been named the World’s Best Low-Cost Airline and received the Australia / New Zealand region’s Best Cabin Staff by SkyTrax as part of their annual World Airline Survey carried out between August 2006 and June 2007. The World Airline Survey is regarded as the primary benchmarking tool for Passenger Satisfaction levels of airlines throughout the world, with their annual survey of the world’s airlines involving over 14 million respondents to interviews. There were 5 million respondents alone to the Low Cost Carrier category. Jetstar was named in the 2007 World Airline Survey as: World’s Best Low Cost Airline Best Low Cost Airline — Australia/Pacific Best Cabin Staff — Australia/New Zealand Skytrax Chief Executive Officer Edward Plaisted said, "However you look at it, Jetstar Airways, as the 2007 winner of the Worlds Best Low-Cost Airline award is clearly doing the right things to keep their customers happy. Our congratulations go to Jetstar in achieving this accolade, amongst what has to be said is a continuously expanding market.” Jetstar Chief Executive Officer Alan Joyce said for the airline to achieve the global award after just over three years of flying was a remarkable achievement that will be shared with all staff. Mr. Joyce continued, “To be ranked above the likes of easyJet, considered one of the pioneers of low cost carrier’s globally is an amazing achievement. Equally to be positioned by air travelers as number one value based carrier in our own region above all our local competitors is a great endorsement for all our staff and our management team.” Jetstar now operates over 1,100 weekly services to 22 short haul domestic and international destinations and commenced value based, international long haul operations in November 2006 with an existing fleet of five A330-200s to seven overseas ports across Asia and the Asia Pacific from Australia. For Thai travelers and visitors to Thailand Jetstar operates three services weekly between Melbourne and Bangkok and three services per week between Sydney and Phuket. The airline recently announced significant growth plans for both its short and long haul operations with an additional 9 A320 aircraft joining an existing fleet of 23 A320s between December 2007 and March 2009 and 15 new Boeing 787 Dreamliners to be introduced for long haul operations from August 2008. Jetstar now directly employs over 1,600 staff. The airline was also voted number one in having the “Best Cabin Staff” in the Australia/New Zealand region. “Service is paramount, regardless of the product you offer, so to take out the number one spot ahead of all the regions’ full service and low cost carriers is extremely rewarding and reflects the focus service has throughout the Jetstar business. Our own research has always rated the service of Jetstar Cabin Crew as very high but this Award from one of the world’s most reputable surveys gives our staff the public recognition that they deserve,” Mr. Joyce concluded. Jetstar this month also won Airline Business magazine’s award for Operational Excellence for 2007. The Airline Business Award winners were selected by an independent panel of industry experts which included Sir Rod Eddington and Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation (CAPA) Managing Director Peter Harbison. Further Enquiries: Simon Westaway General Manager Corporate Relations M: +61 (0) 401 994 627 Simone Pregellio Corporate Communications Manager M: +61 (0) 418 981 470 Media Enquiries James Best Aziam Burson-Marsteller 662-252-9871 Satida Sritunyatorn DETAILS OF THE SKYTRAX WORLD AIRLINE SURVEY www.worldairlineawards.com The World’s Best Low-Cost Airline and World’s Best Cabin Staff Survey are commissioned and conducted by Skytrax Research of London. No outside sponsorship or external influence is applied to any aspect of the Survey. More than 90 different nationalities of passenger took part in this major, global survey, which was operated between August 2006 and July 2007. A total of 5,053,215 eligible survey interviews were completed for this worldwide 2006/7 survey of low-cost airlines. Out of a total 3,778,502 survey interviews for the 2006/7 Cabin Staff Survey, 244,221 responses were ineligible - either due to duplicate submissions, or where input was not considered bona-fide or independent. The World’s Best Low-Cost Airline Survey and the World’s Best Cabin Staff Survey data was gathered using a range of input sources: Online Customer Survey Business Research Group Interviews Customer Telephone Interviews Selected Passenger Interviews Additional research comprised back-up interviews, amongst a random, representative sample of Survey respondents. This research was to both verify survey interviews, and to gain respondent reasons for specific airline nominations.