Australia's national airline Qantas Airways sees signs of a sustained recovery in air travel because of a rise in domestic activity and a travel bubble with New Zealand. The company is still working towards the opening of the international travel market by October, despite doubts over Australia's Covid-19 vaccine rollout.
The domestic recovery has been driven by the tourist market and the return of much business travel, Qantas said today. As a result, the airline now expects to reach 90pc of its pre-Covid-19 domestic capacity in the current April-June quarter, up from its previous forecast of 80pc, provided there are no significant border closures.
The continued growth in domestic capacity is expected to extend into the July 2021 to June 2022 financial year, when the company expects its budget airline unit Jetstar to reach 120pc of pre-Covid-19 levels, and Qantas to be at 107pc.
"We are now seeing really positive signs of sustained recovery," Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce said. "This is the longest run of relative stability we have had with domestic borders for over a year, and it is reflected in the strong travel demand we saw over Easter and the forward bookings that are flowing in each week from all parts of the market."
The recovery has led to 34 new domestic routes being added since July and has helped the Qantas group increase its share of the domestic market to around 70pc from about 60pc pre-Covid. Qantas' only domestic rival is Virgin Australia, which went into administration shortly after coronavirus travel restrictions were imposed.
Qantas and Jetstar have seen strong demand since the two-way trans-Tasman travel bubble with New Zealand was announced last week.
Preparations are continuing for the reopening of international borders and the return of international flights in late October, Qantas said. The airline said it is maintaining flexibility to resume international flights in line with the Australian government's Covid-19 vaccine rollout.
Canberra originally said all Australians would be vaccinated by the end of October but has recently dropped that target, and now has no committed timeline. It may be well into 2022 before Australia is fully vaccinated, some health experts have said, which could imply international travel will not resume until then.
Australia's domestic jet fuel consumption fell by about 58pc from a year earlier to 25,000 b/d in the July 2020 to January 2021 period, the first seven months of the 2020-21 fiscal year. Total jet fuel demand was down by 69pc to 50,800 b/d in the same comparison.
