From the CEO
Like many, I’ve been fortunate to travel more regularly around Australia over the past few months. While there have been some bumps, it’s fantastic to see most airports buzzing again and more of our people back at work with big smiles on their faces.
And our customers have extra reason to smile, too, with the federal government’s discounted airfare program taking off. It means there are more than 800,000 half-price seats on offer to some of Australia’s fantastic holiday destinations, including the Gold Coast, Cairns and Hobart, to name just a few. The announcement in March was a huge turning point for the local tourism industry. On the day the program was launched, enquiries on qantas.com were up 75 per cent and bookings rose 40 per cent from the previous day. What’s more extraordinary is that the discounted tickets didn’t go on sale until April. This tells you that the package was a huge confidence boost and a catalyst for customers to go out and book a holiday. It also means Qantas can get more of our people and aircraft back into the skies.
All of our domestic lounges are now available (bar two regional lounges that are undergoing upgrades). And it’s not just domestic holidays that have returned. The travel bubble with New Zealand is open so Australians can take their first overseas trip in more than a year.
We’ve got a very close relationship with New Zealand – it was Qantas’s busiest international market before COVID-19 – but recently it’s never felt further away. I know that many Frequent Flyers are keen to use some of the points they’ve been stockpiling to catch up with friends and family or escape to one of New Zealand’s stunning wine regions or ski fields. To help our Frequent Flyers get back into the air, we’ve increased the number of Classic Rewards seats on trans-Tasman flights by 50 per cent until the end of the year. And in more good news, we’ve reopened our International First Lounge in Sydney and Melbourne and the Premium International Lounge in Brisbane.
These are exciting steps as we work towards more international travel opening up later in the year.
Thanks again for choosing Qantas.