Jetstar has remade its iconic ad ‘Let’s Fly Jetstar’ that first hit TV screens across the country 20 years ago.
The ad featured Aussie actress Magda Szubanski and while she sadly isn’t in the newly-created version, it instead features some of Jetstar’s crew along with selected customers who won a competition with their real-life stories adapted into the advert.
In March, the airline announced a “casting call”, inviting customers to submit their favourite Jetstar travel stories from the past two decades.
More than 400 people from across Australia entered and three winners were chosen to star in the advert.
It comes as the airline celebrates its 20th anniversary in May.
Father and daughter, Tony and Jade Neal from Cameron Park outside Newcastle were passengers on the very first Jetstar flight from Newcastle to Melbourne on May 25, 2004 and were selected to take part in filming.
Jade was just two years old when the airline launched and appears in the ad as a 22-year-old. Her mother collected photos, newspaper clippings and other mementos from the historic day in 2004, which were shared with the crew during filming.
“It made me feel so special to be a part of such an awesome experience,” Jade said
“I appreciate all the effort that was put into making us all feel comfortable and welcome.”
Mr Neal said he was buzzing with excitement after travelling to Sydney to film the ad with his daughter.
“Being given the opportunity to participate in the Jetstar commercial was so exciting,” he said.
“It brought back fond memories from our first flight 20 years ago – memories that I will never forget. Experiencing this with Jade who was also with me on the first flight was a fantastic time and one I will.”
The ad also featured Aussie TikTok stars ‘Luke and Sassy Scott’ who were very excited to be featured in the advert – more so Scott who believed he was more than an extra.
They shared a hilarious behind-the-scenes clip that has attracted almost 1 million views of Scott being very sassy.
“Scott you’re an extra … where’s your bag … go get your bag,” Luke asks his brother before Scott points to a woman carrying it for him.
“No, I have to eat, it’s a long day on set.”
Meanwhile, Jetstar’s executive manager of customer service, Jenn Armor, said they wanted to create something that celebrates the people who have made Jetstar what it is today.
“From taking their first flight with Jetstar at age 90, to meeting the love of their life on board; it was such a privilege to read through all our customers’ stories,” she said.
“[Having’ so many customers share their favourite memories of flying with us is a wonderful birthday gift.”
Jetstar first took to the skies in 2004 and has since flown more than 400 million customers across its domestic and international network.
And while it has battled with on-time flight performance and cancellations, recent figures reveal the budget airline has push forward.
According to the latest figures from the Bureau of Infrastructure and Transport Research Economics (BITRE), released on Tuesday, more than 80 per cent of Jetstar’s domestic flights arrived on time and 78.3 per cent departed on schedule in March.
Its cancellation rate also dropped to 1.5 per cent, marking the airline’s lowest cancellation rate in almost five years and highest on time arrival rate in more than two years.
During the month Jetstar operated over 7200 flights serving more than 20 destinations across its Australian domestic network.
Qantas, which includes Qantas and QantasLink, also had a strong performance in March with 78.2 per cent of its flights departing on time.
“While these are strong results, we remain focused on further improving our operations and delivering a safe and reliable service for our customers every time they fly with us,” Jetstar’s chief operating officer, Matt Franzi, said.
“We’ve been working incredibly hard in recent months to better prepare for when things don’t go to plan, and it shows in these latest performance figures.
“Bad weather, air traffic control restrictions and unexpected aircraft maintenance can all cause problems with getting flights away on time, so the job is never done for our teams.”