Australia’s national carrier, Qantas, announced an astonishing record profit of $1.6 billion on Thursday, attributing it to the surge in air travel as a result of the recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. (File Photo by Brent Winstone/EPA-EFE)
Aug. 24 (UPI) — Qantas Airways, Australia’s prominent airline, reported a substantial rebound in profits, reaching $1.6 billion for the first half of this year. This achievement comes after the company incurred losses of $4.5 billion over the past three years due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, when air travel came to a halt, causing empty skies.
CEO Alan Joyce highlighted Qantas’ exceptional on-time performance and low flight cancellation rates, which contributed to the company’s strong position in the industry. In addition to the profit announcement, Qantas also revealed a $322 million share buyback program and plans to acquire 24 new wide-body aircraft.
Qantas credited its recovery plan, which amounted to $644 million, along with a 132% increase in flights from 2021-22 and a doubling of revenue to $12.8 billion, for supporting the group’s profits. The heightened demand for travel played a significant role in this achievement.
“These results demonstrate a remarkable turnaround in both our financial performance and service quality over the past year. We have returned to pre-COVID levels in terms of flight delays and cancellations, transforming from heavy losses to a strong profit and a pipeline of lucrative investments worth billions of dollars,” stated CEO Alan Joyce.
Notably, Qantas witnessed a tremendous increase in traveling, with almost 70 billion more seat kilometers covered and the number of passengers transported doubling to 46 million compared to the previous year. These figures illustrate the robustness of travel demand, prompting Qantas to acquire more aircraft and expand its route network to meet the growing needs of travelers.
Qantas Group’s other divisions, including regional carrier QantasLink, budget carrier Jetstar, and Qantas Freight, significantly contributed to the overall results. Flights within Australia alone accounted for more than half of the group’s underlying profit of $1.6 billion.
The airline’s loyalty program also performed well, generating a profit of $298 million from revenue of $1.4 billion, boosted by its over 15 million frequent flyers. Additionally, Qantas reported a substantial improvement in customer satisfaction.
In an effort to garner customer loyalty despite its impressive financial performance, Qantas announced the sale of 1 million seats to 90 different destinations, coinciding with the release of its profit report.
The order of 12 Airbus 350 aircraft and 12 Boeing 787 “Dreamliners” aligns with Qantas’ commitment to replace older aircraft in its fleet of 336 domestic and international planes, as part of a total of 170 aircraft orders.
