Qantas Makes Record Profits After Dismal COVID Losses

Qantas has announced half-year profits of more than A$1-billion ($683-million or £566-million) in a dramatic turnaround of the airline's fortunes since last year, Tom Housden reported for BBC News.

Photo Insert: The profits come after the company lost more than A$7-billion during the pandemic.

It comes after the company lost more than A$7-billion during the pandemic, when Australia imposed strict travel rules. Its troubles continued last year with a slew of criticism over canceled flights, lost luggage, and delays.

The airline said strong demand for flights, higher airfares and cost-cutting were behind its rebound. Chief executive Alan Joyce said revenue had tripled for the six months to the end of December to almost A$10 billion as pandemic travel restrictions were eased.

The A$1-billion profit compares with a loss of A$456 million for the same period in the previous year. "This is a huge turnaround considering the massive losses we were facing just 12 months ago," Joyce said.

The pandemic hit many airlines hard as countries closed their borders, with Australia imposing some of the most stringent travel restrictions in the world.

Borders remained shut to most non-Australians for over 18 months and thousands of Australians were stranded overseas due to strict quotas on arrivals.

In an effort to limit losses, in August 2020 Qantas announced it would outsource some 2,000 ground staff roles and cut thousands of jobs. But that sparked a costly court case and staffing shortages.

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