The CEO of Qantas has said that restarting international
flights to the UK and US is “going to need a vaccine given the high prevalence
of the virus in both of those locations”.
Alan Joyce’s comments were made at the airline’s AGM on Friday and reported by ABC news in Australia.
Joyce told the broadcaster: “We are getting more and
more confident about the opportunities and the potential for a vaccine in
helping getting those operations up by potentially the end of 2021."
Speaking at the AGM,
Joyce said the airline had identified A$15 billion (£8.2 billion) in cost
savings over the next three years, mostly through reduced flying activity but also through reworking its arrangements with agents.
He said: “We’re
renegotiating our arrangements with travel agents, which will create better
selling opportunities for the trade and significantly reduce our cost of sale.”
“When international
travel does eventually return, our market share is expected to grow too, as
overseas carriers take a conservative approach to capacity and focus on
opportunities closer to their own home markets,” he added.
Qantas chairman Richard Goyder said the airline was looking at
other destinations while these key markets remain closed. “Qantas and Jetstar are keeping a close eye on new markets
that might open up as a result of these bubbles – including places that weren’t
part of our pre-Covid network," he said.
“By early next year, we may find that Korea,
Taiwan and various islands in the Pacific are top Qantas destinations while we
wait for our core international markets like the US and UK to re-open.”