I49 Air and Space Transport

Qantas bows to ACCC wishes and ends China Eastern tie-up

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Original article by Robyn Ironside, Glenda Korporaal
The Australian – Page: Online : 25-Oct-23

Qantas has advised that it will terminate a long-standing alliance with China Eastern Airlines, although it will honour all existing bookings. The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission had signalled in September that it would oppose an application to extend the partnership. Qantas recently abandoned a $614m takeover bid for Alliance Aviation after the deal was opposed by the ACCC, while the competition watchdog is also pursuing legal action over allegations that Qantas had sold tickets for flights that it had already cancelled.

CORPORATES
QANTAS AIRWAYS LIMITED – ASX QAN, CHINA EASTERN AIRLINES CORPORATION LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION

Goyder to go in Qantas board exodus

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Original article by Ayesha de Kretser
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 19 : 12-Oct-23

Qantas shares closed 2.65 per cent higher on Wednesday after it was announced that Richard Goyder would be stepping down as its chairman prior to its 2024 AGM, while fellow directors Maxine Brenner and Jacqueline Hey will leave its board in February. The Australian Shareholders Association and the Australian Council of Superannuation Investors both welcomed Goyder’s announcement, which comes after a number of controversies at the airline, including the August announcement by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission that it was suing it for alleged deceptive and misleading conduct.

CORPORATES
QANTAS AIRWAYS LIMITED – ASX QAN,[SPACE]AUSTRALIAN SHAREHOLDERS’ ASSOCIATION,[SPACE]AUSTRALIAN COUNCIL OF SUPERANNUATION INVESTORS INCORPORATED,[SPACE]AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION

DIRECTORS OF CORPORATIONS – AUSTRALIA – APPOINTMENTS AND RETIREMENTS]

Taylor Swift drove international visitors down under for February concerts

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Original article by Robyn Ironside
The Australian – Page: Online : 4-Oct-23

Data collected by flight booking systems provider Amadeus has revealed huge interest in flights to cities where pop singer Taylor Swift is performing. With tickets to concerts by Swift in Sydney and Melbourne in February 2024 going on sale in the last week of June, Amadeus data shows that searches for flights for Sydney and Melbourne were up 44 per cent week-on-week. Australian Travel Industry Association CEO Dean Long says it has been a long time since they had seen an event that has attracted as much interest as the Swift tour, while Accommodation Association of Australia CEO Michael Johnson said the Swift tour was turning out to be a "sugar hit" for the industry with thousands of rooms booked.

CORPORATES
AMADEUS GLOBAL TRAVEL DISTRIBUTION SA,[SPACE]AUSTRALIAN TRAVEL INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION,[SPACE]ACCOMMODATION ASSOCIATION OF AUSTRALIA

AIR TRAVEL – AUSTRALIA,[SPACE]POPULAR MUSIC – UNITED STATES]

Qantas pilots calls for chairman to quit

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Original article by Robyn Ironside
The Australian – Page: 5 : 26-Sep-23

The Australian & International Pilots Association has urged Qantas chairman Richard Goyder to step down in the wake of recent scandals at the airline. AIPA president Tony Lucas says pilots have lost all confidence in Goyder and the Qantas board, and the morale of pilots has never been lower. Lucas adds that it is galling that Goyder is receiving a pay rise of nearly $100,000 when he has overseen the destruction of the Qantas brand and staff are expected to accept a two-year wage freeze. Qantas announced on Monday that it will spend an additional $80m on customer improvements in 2023-24.

CORPORATES
QANTAS AIRWAYS LIMITED – ASX QAN, AUSTRALIAN AND INTERNATIONAL PILOTS ASSOCIATION

Qantas complaints reach sky-high levels

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Original article by Ayesha de Kretser
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 2-Aug-23

An published draft document from the Airline Customer Advocate shows that it received a total of 6,918 complaints from airline customers in 2022, including some 4,000 complaints about Qantas. However, just 1,426 of the total number of complaints received were deemed to be eligible. The ACA says the 138 per cent increase in complaints year-on-year was to be expected, given that passenger numbers surged in 2022 after COVID-19 restrictions were lifted. The number of complaints in 2022 was also well above pre-pandemic levels; the ACA received 2,135 complaints in 2018, including 1,410 that were found to be eligible.

CORPORATES
AIRLINE CUSTOMER ADVOCATE, QANTAS AIRWAYS LIMITED – ASX QAN

Why Australians are paying 50% more for air fares than pre-pandemic even as jet fuel costs drop

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Original article by Jonathan Barrett, Elias Visontay
The Guardian Australia – Page: Online : 31-May-23

Data from the International Air Transport Association shows that the price of aviation fuel has halved since peaking in mid-2022, and it is now priced at around the levels at which many airlines operated profitably in 2018. However, data from flight search company Kayak shows that this is not being reflected in the price of airfares in Australia. The average domestic airfare is now about 10 per cent higher than prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, while the average international airfare is more than 50 per cent higher. Nick Schroeder from IBISWorld expects the price of international airfares to start falling in the second half of 2023, adding that they could potentially fall to around pre-pandemic levels within 18-24 months.

CORPORATES
INTERNATIONAL AIR TRANSPORT ASSOCIATION, KAYAK, IBISWORLD PTY LTD

Qantas sets a course for $2.5bn profit

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Original article by Robyn Ironside
The Australian – Page: 13 & 16 : 24-May-23

Qantas has advised that its underlying profit for 2022-23 is expected to be within the range of $2.425bn to $2.725bn. This compares with a loss of $1.8bn for the previous financial year. The carrier’s quarterly update shows that air travel has rebounded from the pandemic-induced downturn; its domestic operations’ revenue is now at 118 per cent of pre-Covid levels, while its international arm’s revenue is at 123 per cent of 2019 levels. Meanwhile, seat capacity is now at 87 per cent of levels prior to the pandemic, and CEO Alan Joyce expects this to reach 93 per cent by the end of 2023.

CORPORATES
QANTAS AIRWAYS LIMITED – ASX QAN

Next Qantas CEO stares down $12.3b fleet revamp

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Original article by Lucas Baird
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 18 : 3-May-23

The pressing need to upgrade an ageing fleet will be a key challenge for Qantas veteran Vanessa Hudson when she succeeds CEO Alan Joyce in November. However, she is confident that Qantas will be able to manage the capital requirements of a fleet upgrade while continuing to reward shareholders. UBS estimates that Qants will need to spend $12.3bn on new airplanes between the 2024 and 2028 fiscal years, given that the average age of its fleet increased from 7.7 years in 2014 to 13.6 in 2022. Qantas chairman Richard Goyder has praised Hudson, noting that she has been in her current role of CFO during one of the most challenging periods in the airline’s history.

CORPORATES
QANTAS AIRWAYS LIMITED – ASX QAN

Virgin IPO could be tough sell as bankers question timing

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Original article by Aaron Weinman
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 13 & 18 : 18-Jan-23

Private equity firm Bain Capital is widely tipped to proceed with an IPO of Virgin Australia in the second half of 2023. The mooted sharemarket float could be well-timed, given that airlines are benefiting from a post-pandemic upturn in demand for travel and the reopening of Australia’s borders to international tourists. However, some observers are concerned that demand for travel may peak ahead of the float, as growing pressure on household budgets due to rising interest rates and energy bills prompts them to reprioritise their spending. Some bankers also suggest that the high cost of international airfares and a lower Australian dollar will benefit Virgin, which has shifted its focus to the domestic market under Bain’s ownership.

CORPORATES
VIRGIN AUSTRALIA HOLDINGS LIMITED, BAIN CAPITAL LLC

Delays to business travel likely

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Original article by Hannah Wootton
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 7 : 11-Jan-23

Australia China Business Council president David Olsson does not expect a significant upturn in business travel to China until March. He notes that airline and rail tickets in China are scarce in the lead-up to the Lunar New Year, so many business leaders are not planning to travel to China until February or March. He adds that there a number of challenges in gaining business visas for China, as it is taking longer than usual to process visa applications and China is not yet issuing multiple-visit visas.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA CHINA BUSINESS COUNCIL