<article><p class="lead">Australia's national airline Qantas has pushed back its timing for the restart of international travel from the country to December 2021 from a previous guidance of <a href="https://direct.argusmedia.com/newsandanalysis/article/2190271">October</a>, aligning with the government's Covid-19 vaccination roll-out. </p><p>This is the second time Qantas has pushed back its targeted restart of international travel from its original <a href="https://direct.argusmedia.com/newsandanalysis/article/2190271">July 2021 restart</a>. Flights leaving Australia for overseas destinations accounted for the largest share of Australia's jet fuel consumption prior to the pandemic.</p><p>"We've adjusted our expectations for when international borders will start opening based on the government's new timeline, but our fundamental assumption remains the same, that once the national vaccine roll-out is effectively complete, Australia can and should open up," said Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce.</p><p>Australia already has a travel bubble with New Zealand that started on 18 April. Demand is rebuilding steadily, Qantas said, with several pauses and additional restrictions from both countries in response to small outbreaks that have affected consumers' confidence, leading to capacity being limited to around 60pc of pre-Covid 19 levels. </p><p>The airline's domestic business has experienced a pick-up as Australia's six states have opened their respective borders to allow interstate travel. Qantas is on track to reach 95pc of its pre-Covid domestic capacity for the April-June quarter of the 2020-21 fiscal year to 30 June. Qantas and its low-cost affiliate Jetstar expect to average 107pc and 120pc respectively of their pre-Covid domestic capacity in 2021-22. "To meet this demand, Qantas and Jetstar have now brought all domestic aircraft back into service," it said. </p><p>The impact of Covid-19 travel restrictions have taken a toll on Qantas' revenues. Total revenue losses for the airline since the start of Covid-19 are now projected to reach A$16bn ($12.4bn) by the end of 2020-21. But revenues from domestic flights are expected to almost double between the first and second half of this fiscal year, the airline said.</p><p>Qantas has embarked on a cost-cutting programme with a target of at least A$1bn/yr by 2022-23, with A$600mn to be delivered this fiscal year.</p><p class="bylines">By Kevin Morrison</p></article>
