Qantas Group has announced an A$1.61 billion ($1.78 billion) profit for the latest financial year, marking a 28% increase compared to the previous year.
The Qantas results were announced soon after Air New Zealand disclosed a net profit of $126 million after tax in its annual report.
Air New Zealand said it faced challenges from a sluggish domestic economy and engine maintenance problems. Meanwhile, Qantas reported experiencing strong demand across all segments.
However, both airlines raised concerns about the impact of high inflation.
“Despite the strong performance across the group, we saw some costs rise above the rate of inflation, which reduced the benefits of lower fuel,” Qantas Group chief executive Vanessa Hudson said.
Hudson said business travel was making a strong comeback in Australia.
“Qantas continued to benefit from the return of business-purpose travel, with corporate travel almost back to pre-Covid levels domestically, showing that Zoom and Teams meetings have not ended face-to-face business meetings.”
The airline indicated that flights from Australia’s eastern seaboard to London and New York are becoming more attainable. These ultra-long-haul journeys are part of Qantas’ Project Sunrise initiative, for which the Airbus A350-1000 has been selected as the aircraft.
Qantas said its existing ultra-long-haul routes have been delivering strong financial results.
“Work on Qantas’ first A350-1000ULR is progressing, with the aircraft entering the final assembly line in Toulouse, France, in October 2025.”
The first aircraft is scheduled to be delivered in October of next year, with its inaugural non-stop ultra-long-haul commercial flight planned for the first half of the calendar year 2027.