It said the Middle East conflict and associated impact on fuel prices had cost it A$420 million during the financial year.
New suite
The airline unveiled a new business class suite today for its Airbus A321XLR fleet.
Renderings of the new A321XLR business class suite.
It said that would bring a lie-flat bed to Qantas narrowbody aircraft for the first time.
The company said it was carrying out the biggest fleet renewal in its history.
The group received 17 new aircraft in the last financial year and expected up to 31 more this year.
It said its Qantas Frequent Flyer scheme grew to nearly 19 million members.
It also said today that it had opened the new Emergency Procedures Training Centre in Sydney, part of a A$100m investment in pilot and cabin crew training facilities.
Fuel prices
Moody’s Ratings vice-president Sean Williams said high fuel prices would probably continue to weigh on near-term earnings.
But he said Qantas had strong financial flexibility and a leading market position, which helped it adjust pricing and capacity in response to changing market conditions.
“While profitability declined, demand remained broadly resilient across its domestic, international and loyalty businesses.”
Qantas Group CEO Vanessa Hudson.
Qantas chief executive Vanessa Hudson said 25,000 employees would get A$1000 of Qantas shares through the airline’s employee ownership plan.
Hudson also said the annual fuel bill would have been A$610m higher than expected. Capacity and fare adjustments ameliorated that.
In April, Qantas blamed jet fuel price volatility for fare hikes and capacity changes.
In an April trading update, it said it had hedged about 90% of its second-half exposure in crude oil but was exposed to movements in jet fuel refining margins.
It said at the time there was strong demand for flights to Europe, so it increased services to Paris and Rome, and cut some domestic services.
But the following month it said it was making its biggest investment in New Zealand.
Since the financial year ended, Qantas had conducted its first Project Sunrise test flight from France to Australia.
The specially configured Airbus A350-1000ULR landed in Melbourne after a 19-hour flight.
“Demand for long-haul routes and premium cabins continues to grow, as does our confidence in Project Sunrise,” Hudson said today.
A380
The Qantas fleet includes the world’s biggest passenger aircraft, the Airbus A380.
Qantas says it will start phasing out the giant double-decker A380 from the year after next.
Hudson said the airline would gradually phase out that aircraft from 2028.
That was because the airline was in talks with Airbus and Boeing about converting about 20 of its existing options to firm orders from 2030.
In other events during the financial year, the airline group closed Jetstar Asia.
It redeployed seven of that carrier’s aircraft to Jetstar Australia and New Zealand.
Air New Zealand’s annual result is due to be published tomorrow.
Stay ahead with the latest market moves, corporate updates, and economic insights by subscribing to our Business newsletter – your essential weekly round-up of all the business news you need.