I49 Air and Space Transport

Qantas and American to fly new trans-Pacific routes

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Original article by Jamie Freed
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 13 & 14 : 7-Jan-16

Qantas and American Airlines intend to expand their joint venture’s trans-Pacific routes. The airlines are seeking final regulatory approval for flights between Australasia and mainland North America, stating in a submission filed with the US Department of Transportation that they would add at least two new trans-Pacific routes. This will be possible once Boeing starts delivering its 787-9 aircraft to Qantas in 2017.

CORPORATES
QANTAS AIRWAYS LIMITED – ASX QAN, AMERICAN AIRLINES INCORPORATED, BOEING COMPANY, UNITED STATES. DEPT OF TRANSPORTATION, AIR NEW ZEALAND LIMITED – ASX AIZ, AIR CANADA

Qantas shares bumper profit with investors

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Original article by Jamie Freed
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 13 & 18 : 16-Dec-15

Qantas expects a 2015-16 interim underlying pre-tax profit of $A875m to $A925m, compared with $A367m for the previous corresponding period. The airline has benefited from factors such as lower fuel prices, higher revenue and cost reductions in the current half-year. CEO Allan Joyce has signalled that Qantas will look at returning surplus cash to shareholders in the next several years, while Matthew Spence of Merrill Lynch expects the carrier to launch a share buyback with the release of its half-year accounts.

CORPORATES
QANTAS AIRWAYS LIMITED – ASX QAN, MERRILL LYNCH (AUSTRALIA) PTY LTD, JETSTAR AIRLINES PTY LTD, VIRGIN AUSTRALIA HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX VAH, WOOLWORTHS LIMITED – ASX WOW, BP AUSTRALIA LIMITED

Dollar discourages US trips: United Airlines

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Original article by Lisa Allen
The Australian – Page: 20 : 10-Dec-15

United Airlines has reported a fall in the number of Australian tourists flying to the US. Brian Znotins, vice-president for network planning at the airline, believes that this trend is the result of the weakness of the Australian dollar against the US currency. There will be no increase in the airline’s services from Sydney and Melbourne to Los Angeles.

CORPORATES
UNITED AIR LINES INCORPORATED, AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS

Staying fit can earn you Qantas flyer points

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Original article by Jamie Freed
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 9 & 14 : 24-Nov-15

Members of a new customer loyalty program will be rewarded for being physically active. Qantas has partnered with health insurer NIB Holdings to develop a new program, Qantas Assure, which will offer frequent flyer points to NIB customers. Members of the scheme will also receive extra points for meeting fitness targets which will be measured by wearable technology. The new scheme will be launched in the first half of 2016.

CORPORATES
QANTAS AIRWAYS LIMITED – ASX QAN, NIB HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NHF, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA

Cathay Pacific to trial cargo flight from Australia’s food bowl

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Original article by Jared Lynch
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 22 : 23-Nov-15

Bindaree Beef will participate in Cathay Pacific’s test flight from Wellcamp Airport in regional Queensland to China. The trial run is intended to gauge whether regular fresh produce flights from regional Australia to Asia are commercially viable. Bindaree currently ships chilled beef to Asia via Sydney Airport, but flights from Toowoomba would allow for next-day delivery of its cargoes to Asian destinations.

CORPORATES
BINDAREE BEEF PTY LTD, CATHAY PACIFIC AIRWAYS LIMITED, SYDNEY AIRPORT – ASX SYD, SHANDONG DELISI, AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF AGRICULTURAL AND RESOURCE ECONOMICS AND SCIENCES

Qantas back from ‘junk’ credit rating

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Original article by Jamie Freed
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 & 20 : 18-Nov-15

Standard & Poor’s has upgraded the credit rating of Qantas to "BBB-" with a "stable" outlook. Qantas had lost its investment-grade credit rating in December 2013 due to its financial problems. Meanwhile, CEO Allan Joyce is upbeat about the outlook for the airline, forecasting that average annual growth in the domestic market will rise to three per cent in the fiscal years from 2016 to 2020. Qantas shares rose by $A0.21 to $A3.76 on 17 November 2015.

CORPORATES
QANTAS AIRWAYS LIMITED – ASX QAN, STANDARD AND POOR’S CORPORATION, MOODY’S INVESTORS SERVICE INCORPORATED, UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD, MERRILL LYNCH (AUSTRALIA) PTY LTD, AIR NEW ZEALAND LIMITED – ASX AIZ, DEUTSCHE LUFTHANSA AG, SOUTHWEST AIRLINES COMPANY, ALASKA AIRLINES, RYANAIR HOLDINGS PLC, WESTJET AIRLINES, ETIHAD AIRWAYS

Airlines reject credit card surcharge gouge claims

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Original article by Shaun Drummond
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 6 : 10-Nov-15

Qantas and its Jetstar subsidiary impose a surcharge of between $A7 and $A30 on flights booked via a credit or debit card. However, Qantas’s Andrew Parker estimates that the carrier recovered only about 81 per cent of the full cost of such transactions in 2014-15. Virgin Australia has indicated that its surcharges also do not allow it recover the full cost of credit/debit card transactions. Queensland businessman Klaus Bartosch has rejected the airlines’ claims and has argued that the surcharges are too high.

CORPORATES
QANTAS AIRWAYS LIMITED – ASX QAN, JETSTAR AIRLINES PTY LTD, VIRGIN AUSTRALIA HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX VAH, VISA INTERNATIONAL, MASTERCARD AUSTRALIA LIMITED, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET

Fix the ‘pain points’ for travellers, Joyce urges the government

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Original article by Jamie Freed
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 37 : 15-Oct-15

Qantas CEO Alan Joyce has called on the Australian Government to reduce the cost of multi-year entry visas which are about to be made available to Chinese travellers. The visa will cost $A1,000, while Chinese nationals pay just $A30 for a similar visa to Singapore. Joyce has also proposed reducing queues at customs and immigration at Australian airports.

CORPORATES
QANTAS AIRWAYS LIMITED – ASX QAN, AIRASIA X SDN BHD, VIRGIN AUSTRALIA HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX VAH, NATIONAL PRESS CLUB (AUSTRALIA)

Qantas lifts off year with strong July figures

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Original article by Jamie Freed
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 : 2-Sep-15

Qantas Airways told analysts on 1 September 2015 that debt levels were low enough so there was no need to lower them. Analysts were impressed by the figures provided by the company. Qantas International increased its capacity by 2.7 per cent and yet it managed to increase the proportion of seats filled by two percentage points to 85.4 per cent.

CORPORATES
QANTAS AIRWAYS LIMITED – ASX QAN, JETSTAR AIRLINES PTY LTD, CITI AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD, BALANCED EQUITY MANAGEMENT PTY LTD

Air New Zealand reveals plans to fight threat from Qantas

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Original article by Jamie Freed
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 : 27-Aug-15

Air New Zealand is stepping up plans to fight back against a rejuvenated Qantas. It will increase domestic capacity in New Zealand, where Jetstar is to introduce regional turboprop flights, and target Australian customers for its services to North and South America. Air New Zealand will boost long-haul capacity by 15 per cent in 2015-16.

CORPORATES
AIR NEW ZEALAND LIMITED – ASX AIZ, QANTAS AIRWAYS LIMITED – ASX QAN, JETSTAR AIRLINES PTY LTD, VIRGIN AUSTRALIA HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX VAH, DELTA AIR LINES