According to Stephanie Tully, Chief Customer Officer for Qantas airine, seats on international flights are roughly 90% full, and daily flights connecting Sydney and London through Singapore on Airbus SE’s A380 widebody aircraft are fully booked throughout all grades for the upcoming several weeks.
Demand is really high, Tully declared. “To accommodate that demand, we had to return planes earlier than anticipated. Additionally, there is a great deal of unmet business as well as seasonal demand. We’re sure that the demand will only increase going forward.
As travel restrictions are lifted, airlines are restarting flights that were cancelled due to the pandemic in order to satisfy the growing needs. People continue to travel despite the recent price increases brought on by the increase in demand, increasing gasoline prices, and a lack of labor. According to Tully, Qantas anticipates increasing capacity to 70% which was before levels by the end of September, and returning to 100% by the end of the year.
Alan Joyce, CEO of Qantas airline, stated that “the fares have to be up” and adds that “that’s happening internationally” as airlines deal with rising fuel prices, a reduction in flying schedules, and the need to get back in profit when Covid-19 decimated the airline industry.
After 2.5 years of significant losses, Joyce made his comments as Qantas announced its first leap into post-pandemic profit, with a projected actual pre-tax profit of $1.2-1.3 billion over the six months from July to December 2022.
Joyce stated “That’s an amazing recovery after $7 billion in losses since 2020.”
In particular, globally, there is still a shortage of capacity compared to the need, Joyce said in an interview at the annual convention of the International Air Transport Association. “Need is enormous. If it were possible, I would take to the skies tomorrow with more airplanes.”
