Australia’s Jetstar Airways is set to touch down at Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) tomorrow, 25 August 2026, marking the launch of its new direct Melbourne-Colombo service.
The inaugural JQ5 flight is scheduled to depart Melbourne at 12:00 noon and arrive in Colombo at 5:50 p.m. The return JQ6 service will depart Colombo at 7:50 p.m., arriving in Melbourne at 10:00 a.m. the following day.
The new service will operate three times a week on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, using Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner aircraft. Jetstar plans to offer more than 100,000 seats annually on the route.
The Melbourne-Colombo route will be Jetstar’s first direct service to South Asia and the airline’s first operation between Australia and Sri Lanka. The service is being introduced as Australia’s only low-cost direct connection between Melbourne and Colombo.
Hayleys Aviation serves as Jetstar’s General Sales Agent (GSA) in Sri Lanka, handling the airline’s sales and representation activities in the local market.
