Jetstar Airways (JQ, Melbourne Tullamarine) is "loss-making" on regional services in New Zealand, its parent Qantas told investors on August 22 as it discussed its full-year results. The Australian flag carrier cautioned in relation to the routes that "market conditions are being monitored closely," the New Zealand Herald reported, a hint that the services may be scaled back.

Regional destinations are defined by Jetstar's New Zealand website as being Napier/Hastings, Nelson, New Plymouth, and Palmerston North. Air New Zealand, which maintains around 80% of the domestic travel market, has had to make similar cuts to regional centres in the past, according to the report.

The results provided no further details about the New Zealand services. Jetstar currently operates seventeen routes to and within the country, according to the ch-aviation capacities module.

The following day, Hastings District Councillor Simon Nixon commented that if Jetstar were to stop its Hawke's Bay (Napier) service, it would be a gift for Air New Zealand but a "disaster" for passengers, as less competition to more isolated communities may spell higher fares.

Qantas blamed a 19% rise in fuel costs and a weaker currency for a 17% decline in underlying pretax profit across the group, to AUD1.3 billion (USD878 million) for the year to June 30, despite a 5% revenue increase.