Review of Jetstar Airways flight Sydney → Melbourne in Economy

Hi everyone. Welcome to my second flight report. This flight was my second flight in my five flight trip to Hawaii. The first flight was on the VA ATR 72-500 (VH-FVX) the day before this flight. The after I arrived on this flight I then had a 8hr layover before boarding my flight JQ1 to Honolulu (the report will be coming soon) so with that lets get into it.

Airline: Jetstar Australia
Aircraft: Airbus A320-232
Rego: VH-VFP
Age: 3.9yrs
Departure: 0614L
Arrival: 0746L
Seat: 8F

I headed over to T2 at Sydney airport at around 0400L. I was staying at Rydges Sydney Airport so it was a relatively short drive over the other side to the domestic terminal. Check in was simple. We were asked by the JQ staff to check in via the self serve kiosks. This was quick but we had to check in bags to that added an extra 20mins of wait time in the bag drop queue. Staff were friendly despite it being 4am on a Sunday and the fact that the computer was being slow. The process as a whole took around 30mins. The check in area was quite busy with a few other flights also departing around the same time. Afterwards I headed through security and headed to gate 57. We decided to skip breakfast until we arrived in Melbourne as it was quite early to have breakfast.

A few VA aircraft awaiting their day of flying:


A couple of JQ A320s preparing for curfew to lift:


A few moreJQ A320s preparing for their day:


I arrived at gate 57 to find a relatively packed gate lounge. Giving me the vibe that its going to be quite full:



Here is our aircraft taking us to Melbourne. VH-VFP:


The captain and first officer preparing the aircraft for departure. Presumably setting up the MCDU and obtaining airways clearance:


We had a 5min delay due to a cabin crew member calling in sick meaning a FA on standby had to be called in. Boarding was called shortly after the replacement arrived:


I took my seat in 8F. It offered a great view of the wing and engine. Also gives a better sound due to being infront of the engine:


We pushed back shortly after and taxied down the the T6 holding point for runway 34R before departing with a turn to the north on the MARUB6 departure. Feel free to check out the flight video that includes the take off here: https://youtu.be/cezRZ8LL3MU

Here are a few pics during climb out:


Cruise for today was a FL300. Very low compared to usual due to high prevailing winds at higher altitude. Still we coped a very substantial headwind ourselves taking our flight time from the usual 55 or so mins up to our flight time of 1hr 20min. On the plus side it allowed me to view the absolutely stunning sunrise for longer. Take a look:


Cabain shot:


After a fairly long cruise it was time to commence our descent. The cruise was uneventful:


Landing was soft and a very high decel rate so we could vacate at N. We vacated and taxied to bay G42:


A VA 737:


A MH A330:


A Royal Brunei 787:


Arriving into our bay:


We arrived and the other pax disembarked. I waited for my usual flight deck visit. Here are the pics:


I thanked the crew for allowing me in and said good bye:


One last look at our aircraft:


I walked into the newly renovated terminal 4. This was my first time here since the refurbishment and I must say I was quite impressed. As we walked toward the main terminal I happen to pass VH-VKA which was my aircraft taking me to Honolulu in a matter of hours. Making me even more excited for my first "dreamliner" experience:


A VA A330 at its bay after operating the red eye from Perth:


All in all a great flight on the very busy shuttle service between SYD and MEL. I urge you all to check out the flight video of this flight here: https://youtu.be/cezRZ8LL3MU
I hope you all enjoyed this and stay tuned for my report of my connecting flight to Honolulu.

My flight radar 24 log: https://my.flightradar24.com/zac77w

Cheers
Zach Clark (clarkeyaviation)