Qantas has deferred the delivery of two superjumbo Airbus A380 aircraft by four years to further reduce costs.
The Australian airline is also planning to invest in new lounges or lounge renovations at key international hubs, and focus on its no-frills carrier Jetstar and profitable domestic routes.
Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce said it was reducing 2013 capital expenditure by AU$400 million (US$410 million) by rescheduling deliveries of two new A380 aircraft from 2013 to 2017, while the remaining six A380s on order will be delivered in 2019.
This decision runs parallel to the carrier’s previous announcement of deferring Dreamliner deliveries, which were scheduled for mid-2013.
The carrier has not announced a new delivery date but the deferral is projected to help the carrier reduce expenditure from AU$2.5 billion (US$2.6 billion) to AU$2.3 billion (US$2.4 billion).
Joyce said that Qantas would be investing in new first-class lounges in Singapore, which is due to open in the second half of this year and Hong Kong, opening next year. Qantas also plans to open new lounges at Los Angeles.
He added that the new Jetstar joint ventures in Asia – Jetstar Japan and Jetstar Hong Kong were expected to be high-performers for Qantas with the Japanese airline seeing peak bookings of more than 4,000 seats per hour.