QANTAS REVEALS OPEN DATE TO INTERNATIONAL FLIGHTS AS JULY 2021
Qantas records a $2 billion loss in the 2020 financial year, and announced that they will only open international flights in July 2021.
Qantas Group CEO, Alan Joyce, announced that due to the epidemic of 2020, that this year marks the toughest few months for the Flying Kangaroo's in their 99-year history.
They announced that due to the economy downfall, 6,000 staff members lost their jobs and another 20,000 were stood down as the embattled airline's profits plunged by 91%.
"The impact of COVID on all airlines is clear. It's devastating and it will be a question of survival for many. We don't understand why states with zero cases still have borders closed to other states with zero cases... If it's safe, we need to reopen them," Joyce stated.
Qantas' international flights was announced closed and is unlikely to restart before July 2021. They also added that domestic travel would also experience a decrease and would be 20% of its usual levels.
They added in a statement that the airline's projected profit has also collapsed and that this drop was a direct reflection of the COVID-19 crisis and associated border restrictions.
"Fast action to radically cut costs and place much of the flying business into a form of hibernation helped minimise the financial impact from this extraordinary sequence of events," the statement continued.
Alan Joyce also added that, "We've had to make some very tough decisions in the past few months to guarantee our future. At least 6,000 of our people will leave the business through no fault of their own, and thousands more will be stood down for a long time."
Joyce further explained; "We've already had setbacks with borders opening and then closing again. But we know that travel is at the top of people's wish lists and that demand will return as soon as restrictions lift. That means we can get more of our people back to work. We don't have any determination for when the borders will reopen, we think and the federal government thinks they should reopen soon. It's a problem for all business, it's a problem for our business and eventually it's going to be a problem for our economy. What's the basis of blanket comments that say borders will not be opened even if Victoria and NSW gets back to no cases? Surely these decisions should be based on the facts, the health decisions, otherwise it feels like there is no base decisions and is just there to inform the politics."
Qantas believe that the company would be able to survive and be able to "take advantage of the market", even though several parts in Australia such as Queensland and Tasmania mainly survive on tourism.
The airline admitted that due to the high case number of Covid-19, America might be the last destination the airline will resume travel to.
The Australian airline hopes that Trans Tasman travel will resume as soon as possible due to that fact that international travel is still some time away.
To make up for some of the loss, Qantas have increased the number of seats with 50% available on flights to popular destinations including Cairns, Sunshine Coast, Sydney, Queenstown and Auckland.
"Australia is home to world-class destinations and Qantas is making it easier for frequent flyers to visit them. We're adding more Points Planes and more reward seats to our most popular domestic destinations, because that's where people will be holidaying for the rest of the year. We're also helping our most loyal flyers maintain their travel benefits by giving them extra Status Credits in recognition of their long-term loyalty."