Qantas’s no-frills offshoot, Jetstar, has settled on Singapore as its hub for flights in Asia and as its launch pad for services to Europe. Jetstar has been considering for three years whether to make Singapore, Bangkok or Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam its Asian hub. The airline will operate its highest number of services and base its largest number of A320 aircraft in Asia at Changi Airport in Singapore.

The expansion in Singapore is likely to mean it will boost its maintenance operations and cabin-crew base there over coming years. The airline and its part-owned Singaporean affiliate, Jetstar Asia, already have about 200 cabin crew based in Singapore.

”The clear operational advantages of Singapore as a hub and primary access point into Asia are clear and can now be further built upon,” Jetstar’s chief executive, Bruce Buchanan, said yesterday. Jetstar Asia also said it would do its own aircraft maintenance rather than outsource the work.

The Australian airline will decide in coming months whether to use three new A330 aircraft due for delivery this year on flights within Asia or to Europe. Yesterday it indicated it was likely to focus on increasing flights within Asia before starting services to Germany, Greece or Italy. Asia offers annual growth in passenger traffic of 6 per cent, compared with about 2 per cent in Europe. The decision to make Singapore its hub follows Jetstar’s agreement this month to a strategic alliance with the Malaysian low-cost airline AirAsia aimed at slashing procurement costs.