Qantas flags resumption

QANTAS has this morning unveiled bold restart plans for international travel, announcing ambitions to fly to “COVID-safe destinations” from mid-Dec, so long as vaccination rates continue towards 80% (TD breaking news).

The carrier stated its restart would take off in the first instance to destinations such as the United States, Japan, the United Kingdom, Canada, Singapore, New Zealand and Fiji, with these plans dependent on Federal Government decisions in the coming months, including future quarantine requirements.

Qantas’ reboot strategy would see flights between Australia and New Zealand go on sale from mid-Dec on the assumption of the two-way bubble restarting.

The blueprint would also involve five of its A380s returning to service ahead of schedule, flying between Sydney and LA from Jul 2022, and between Sydney and

London (via Singapore) from Nov 2022, and extending the range of its A330-200 jets to operate trans-Pacific routes like BrisbaneLA & Brisbane-San Francisco.

Flights to Hong Kong are also flagged to restart in Feb, while the rest of the Qantas and Jetstar international network is planned to open up from Apr 2022.

MEANWHILE Qantas’ latest financial results show a significant impact from travel restrictions, posting a statutory loss before tax of $2.35 billion and a 67% drop in total revenue to $5.93 billion from $14.26 billion in FY20.

The airline managed to reduce its net debt in H2 to $5.9 billion, while total liquidity for the business at FY21 was $3.8 billion.