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Qantas expects to expand international flight schedule from October
February 25th 2021
Qantas Group has pushed back the planned broad resumption of its international network by four months, to late October, after previously saying it had hoped to return to global flying by July. Read More » The airline group said today the change would match the expected timeframe for Australia’s COVID-19 vaccine rollout to be effectively complete. "We’re in close consultation with government and if things change, so will our dates," Qantas Group CEO, Alan Joyce, said. "But with the vaccine rollout already underway, we’re on the right track."
The Australian-headquartered airline company, made up of the Qantas and Jetstar businesses, reported a net loss of A$1.08 billion (US$861 million) for the six months to December 31, 2020, a steep decline from a net profit of A$445 million a year ago. Revenue fell away by 75.4%, to A$2.3 billion, Qantas informed the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) earlier today. Joyce said the figures were stark, but not a surprise. "Border closures meant we lost virtually 100% of our international flying and 70% of our domestic flying," he said.
Looking ahead, Qantas expects domestic capacity across Qantas and Jetstar to reach 60% of pre-COVID-19 levels by the end of March and 80% by June 30. Group international capacity was 8%, Qantas said, and unlikely to materially increase in the second half of fiscal 2020-2021.
