Any expansion to the number of gates Jetstar can operate from at Melbourne would be fantastic! The need is definitely more urgent than the 5 year estimate put on constructing a brand-new terminal over near T4.
As of a couple of months ago we began using the stand-off bays at the end of the CityFlyer pier (gates 27/28) for some of our morning services because gates 6, 8, 10 and sometimes 12 are already heavily utilised. Infact I arrived into stand-off at gate 27 tonight from Townsville on JQ919.
With more A320s due to be introduced to the fleet this year and based at MEL there's bound to be some extremely tight gate arrangements for JQ and I can see delays happening already from aircraft holding on taxiways for available gates, etc.
As for the suggestion of moving Jetstar's operations around to the vicinity of Tiger at T4; wouldn't that be taking away the great convenience it gives Jetstar and Qantas passengers when connecting/transitioning between the two carriers?
I have no idea of the cost or logistics of what my suggestion would be, but I would have thought extending the CityFlyer pier to accommodate more Qantas services and thus allowing more gates on the main pier to be used by Jetstar would make more sense? Thereby keeping QF and JQ 'under the one roof' so to speak.
Anyway, I guess it's just a matter of watch this space...
