Qantas has announced a return to profit and outlined plans to purchase new aircraft, reduce debt and return AUS$505 million to shareholders.
The Australian national carrier reported an underlying pre-tax profit of A$975 million compared with a loss of A$646 million last year – record losses for the airline.
Qantas also said it will acquire eight 787-9 Dreamliners to “gradually” replace five of its older Boeing 747s on international routes and open up a “range of potential new city pairs”.
Four of the aircraft will be introduced in 2018 and four will arrive in financial year 2019.
The turnaround in profit comes 18 months after launching a AS$2 billion cost reduction programme which resulted in the selling of around 50 aircraft and cutting 5,000 jobs.
Qantas said the results were its strongest profits since the 2008 global financial crash.
CEO Alan Joyce said: “We are delivering one of the biggest turnarounds in Australia’s corporate history.
“This is the best first-half [financial] result in four years and the best second-half result in the company’s history.”
He added: “We have reshaped our business for a strong, sustainable future - and because we moved quickly and made tough decisions early, we have strong foundations to build on."
Qantas said it would return cash to shareholders by paying 23 cents a share, a total of AUS$505m.