Qantas and Jetstar will extend their domestic and Trans-Tasman flight cancellations to the end of June 2020, whilst international flight cancellations will be extended through to the end of July 2020.
The Qantas Group is currently operating around 5 percent of its pre-COVID19 domestic passenger network and around 1 percent of its international network.
On a flying hours basis, which includes charters for the resources sector, passenger aircraft flying as freighters, and mandated domestic services to key destinations across Australia, the Group is operating 13 percent of its domestic network and 6 percent of international.
The initial easing of government restrictions suggests some domestic travel may start to return before the end of July – although the airline admits that demand levels are hard to predict.
“Australia has done an amazing job of flattening the curve and we’re optimistic that domestic travel will start returning earlier than first thought, but we clearly won’t be back to pre-coronavirus levels anytime soon,” says Qantas Group CEO Alan Joyce.
“With the possible exception of New Zealand, international travel demand could take years to return to what it was. We’re expecting demand recovery to be gradual and it will be some time before total demand reaches pre-crisis levels. That means we need to think about what the Qantas Group should look like on the other side of this crisis in order to succeed.”
Qantas has said that customers with bookings impacted by these latest cancellations for June and July will be contacted directly and offered alternatives.
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