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QANTAS Australia posted an annual loss of more than US$1 billion, after a tough year as the pandemic hit the travel industry.
The Australian flag carrier reported a pre-tax loss of A$1.83 billion (US$1.33 billion) in the 12 months to June 30, increasing to A$2.35 billion or US$1.7 billion, when including one-time costs such as redundancy payments and mothballing planes.
It was preceded by a pre-tax loss of nearly $2 billion reported in the previous financial year, as airlines globally were hit by the early effects of the coronavirus pandemic.
Qantas CEO Alan Joyce expects airline revenue to drop by more than A$20 billion (US$14.5 billion) by the end of 2021 as a result of COVID-19.
“This loss demonstrates the full-year impact of international border closures and more than 330 days of domestic travel restrictions on national airlines,” he said in a statement.
The airline said Australia’s open border period in early 2021 had briefly boosted revenue, but the return of internal restrictions following a prolonged outbreak of the Delta variant in Sydney had forced widespread flight cancellations.
In addition to the thousands of pilots and cabin crew laid off in 2020, Qantas recently announced another 2,500 employees would be cut in response to the latest outbreak. Qantas now hopes to resume operating international flights by the end of 2021, citing countries with high vaccination rates such as the United States, United Kingdom and Singapore as potential initial destinations. [bisnis.com/photo special]
