Qantas Group has ordered 24 Boeing and Airbus widebody aircraft after posting its first full-year profit since 2019, the carrier announced on Thursday.
The Australian carrier posted an underlying profit before tax of AU$2.47 billion (€1.47 billion) and a statutory after-tax profit of AU$1.74 billion (€87 million) for the 2023 financial year (July 2022 to end June 2023).
Outgoing group CEO Alan Joyce said the results show “a substantial turnaround in both our finances and service” after the carrier accumulated AU$7 billion in statutory losses over the past three years.
“Flight delays and cancellations have largely returned to pre-Covid levels and we’ve shifted from heavy losses to a strong profit and pipeline of investment worth billions of dollars,” Joyce added. “It’s because we’re in a strong financial position that we’re able to invest in new aircraft, new destinations and new training facilities – all things that will make us better in the future.”
In an earnings report the carrier confirmed orders for 12 Boeing 787 and 12 Airbus A350 aircraft, with deliveries expected from 2027 onwards. The new aircraft will allow the carrier to start operating the first non-stop flights from Sydney to London and New York from late 2025 and will replace the bulk of of its current A330 fleet. The deal includes purchase right options that stretch out until 2037 “to provide flexibility for future growth” and, ultimately, replacement of Qantas' A380 fleet.
As part of the order, Qantas will partner with Airbus and Boeing to access to up to 500 million litres of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) per annum from 2028, which represents up to 90 per cent of the SAF required to reach the carrier’s 2030 interim SAF target of 10 per cent of its total fuel needs.
The carrier’s return to profit follows the completion of an AU$1 billion recovery programme and a 132 per cent increase in volume compared with the previous year. Passenger numbers doubled year-on-year to 46 million, while the carrier clocked almost 70 billion more seat kilometres in FY2023 than in FY2022.
The return to service of seven refurbished Airbus A380s during the year, plus delivery of two new Boeing 787 aircraft and eight new A321LR aircraft, saw the carrier restore its international capacity to 81 per cent of pre-pandemic levels, compared to 54 per cent in 2022.
Passenger loads for international flights averaged above 85 per cent for both Qantas and its low-cost subsidiary Jetstar.
The carrier said the “normalising” of international capacity and the “unwinding of inefficiencies from the return to flying” will help put downward pressure on fares as it expects international capacity to continue to recover and return to pre-pandemic levels by the second half of 2024.
Domestic capacity exceeded pre-pandemic levels in the second half of FY2023, backed by “strong” demand from leisure and business travel. The carrier said a combination of its domestic frequency, lounges and loyalty programme helped to retain its share of corporate and small business travel, with demand from the resources sector driving “significant” revenue.
“Travel demand is incredibly robust and we’ve taken delivery of more aircraft and opened up new routes to help meet it,” said Joyce, who will step down from the top job in November to be replaced by Vanessa Hudson, the company’s first female CEO.