NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Business

Qantas on track for return to profit after $7 billion Covid hit

By Shireen Khalil
news.com.au·
13 Oct, 2022 04:30 AM4 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Qantas CEO Alan Joyce. Photo / Bloomberg

Qantas CEO Alan Joyce. Photo / Bloomberg

Qantas CEO Alan Joyce has revealed the airline has made a "remarkable turnaround" in profit.

Today, Joyce addressed the media for an update on trading, announcing a prediction of underlying profit before tax of between A$1.2 billion ($1.34b) and A$1.3b for the first half of FY23.

It's based on forward bookings, current fuel prices and latest assumptions about the second quarter of the financial year.

It comes after A$7b in accumulated losses since 2020 and a year of troubling times from staff shortages, increased flight cancellations and baggage mishandling.

"The main drivers have been strong travel demand both domestically and internationally," Joyce said.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

He said domestic travel demand remains strong across all categories.

"Revenue intakes for business purposes are over 100 per cent of pre-Covid levels and leisure intakes have further strengthened to over 130 per cent," Joyce said.

Qantas Loyalty expects to post record earnings for the first half and is on track to reach its FY23 earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) target of A$425-450 million.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

However, the broader operating environment continues to be impacted with high fuel prices and high inflation, as well as higher interest rates having an influence on consumer confidence.

Joyce said the Qantas Group's fuel bill is expected to be over A$1b this year.

It is currently around 75 per cent higher than pre-Covid costs. It was around 60 per cent higher than pre-Covid levels in August this year.

"Usually in the aviation industry it's passed on to the consumer," he said.

"There's an increase in international airfares worldwide and they have to be up because we are seeing fuel at 76 per cent higher than pre-Covid.

"There's still a lot of airfares out there that are very cheap, higher than before Covid but we expect that with elevated fuel costs."

Joyce announced Qantas and Jetstar will have its largest joint sale of the year starting today, with more than one million fares across 67 domestic destinations.

Jetstar will start from A$35 one-way and QantasLink at A$99.

Qantas performance

During the media conference, Joyce also addressed the Group's operation performance saying it is now "around pre-Covid levels in the first half of October".

He said there has been a "continued improvement" in domestic on-time performance from 54 per cent in July compared to 75 per cent in October.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"September was impacted by extreme weather events but despite that, we are almost back to pre-Covid levels of performance," Joyce said.

He also had a sly dig at competitors in terms of on-time performance when asked about some of the continued customer service issues faced by Qantas.

"These issues we are having are industry-wide issues. In fact, our performance is better than our competition in Australia. In a recent Skytrax survey Qantas rates fiftth best airline in world and I believe Virgin was about 43. There's light years between our service and the competition."

During September, which included the school holiday period, 69 per cent of flights departed on time.

"While this was ahead of our main competitor, the performance was below our September target of 75 per cent, also partly impacted by extreme weather and air traffic control limitations."

Qantas' cancellations have fallen from 4 per cent in August to 2.4 per cent in September.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

And so far in October, 1.7 per cent of flights have been cancelled.

Mishandled bags remained low at 6 per 1000 passengers in September and into October, according to a Qantas statement.

"Qantas is continuing to invest in extra resourcing in our operations to provide a buffer against the challenges that impacted reliability earlier in the year, including unexpected sick leave spikes and supply chain delays for aircraft parts," the statement said.

"A further A$200 million will be invested until the middle of next year in rostering additional crew, training of new recruits and overtime in key areas such as contact centres."

Joyce also addressed the reduction of domestic flying – an announcement he made in the full-year results in August.

He said it was to give the Group more of a "buffer" to cope with high cost of fuel, adding that the move was "temporary".

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"Maintaining performance means we have to trim domestic capacity across the Group. We will add some of this back if we believe operations can sustain it," Joyce said.

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Business

Retail

‘We absolutely got this wrong and we're sorry’: The Warehouse responds to ad criticism

02 Jul 05:06 AM
Premium
Business

Film producer declared bankrupt after leaky Auckland penthouse dispute

02 Jul 04:00 AM
Airlines

Qantas cyber attack: Millions affected as names, contact details stolen

02 Jul 03:50 AM

Audi offers a sporty spin on city driving with the A3 Sportback and S3 Sportback

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Business

‘We absolutely got this wrong and we're sorry’: The Warehouse responds to ad criticism

‘We absolutely got this wrong and we're sorry’: The Warehouse responds to ad criticism

02 Jul 05:06 AM

The Advertising Standards Authority ruled the advert could cause 'serious offence'.

Premium
Film producer declared bankrupt after leaky Auckland penthouse dispute

Film producer declared bankrupt after leaky Auckland penthouse dispute

02 Jul 04:00 AM
Qantas cyber attack: Millions affected as names, contact details stolen

Qantas cyber attack: Millions affected as names, contact details stolen

02 Jul 03:50 AM
Premium
Planned for years, 25% owner sells out of Queenstown's Lakeview Taumata

Planned for years, 25% owner sells out of Queenstown's Lakeview Taumata

02 Jul 03:00 AM
Gold demand soars amid global turmoil
sponsored

Gold demand soars amid global turmoil

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP