QANTAS: International flights via Perth in jeopardy

Qantas had planned to restart its flights to London via Perth and its new route from Sydney to Rome, also via Perth, but with Western Australia not opening its borders on 5 February, and no new reopening date set, Perth as a waypoint is in jeopardy.

Qantas has been running its London flights via Darwin and Singapore, and it looks like that is the way it will remain for the foreseeable future as long as Qantas can negotiate a deal with Darwin Airport, including the use of the Catalina Lounge for its Premium passengers.

Domestic Flights and Perth

Qantas issued a ‘capacity update’ late yesterday announcing it will reduce domestic capacity by around 10% between 5 February and the end of March in the light of Western Australia keeping its borders closed. However, it regards 31 March as a ‘placeholder’ meaning the reduction could last longer, or be greater. Qantas will maintain its current services for Perth:

‘Though at a fraction of its pre-COVID levels, Qantas will maintain core connections between Perth and the rest of Australia, with up to 15 flights per week from Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Brisbane and Darwin, supporting essential personnel and freight.’

Capacity reductions

Qantas had forecast that it would be operating at 102% of pre-COVID-19 capacity in the 3rd quarter of FY22. On 13 January in the light of omicron, it downgraded that to 70%, and now, just over a week later, it is estimating 80%, and the share price not to mention Qantas losses have fallen accordingly.

2PAXfly Takeout

This is another timely reminder to wear your seatbelt when seated. Holding you close to your seat will protect you from the sort of injuries sustained on this flight, when unsecured passengers flew to the ceiling of the aircraft, and then came crashing down once the ‘drop’ ceased.

The hope will be that this is an anomaly – a ‘freak accident’ in casual parlance. If it is a systemic error either mechanical or electronic, then this is a larger concern for the airlines that fly Boeing Dreamliner 787 aircraft. Let’s hope it isn’t. If it is, it will pile on the woes to Boeing’s existing stack.

The decision by the WA government to keep the borders shut is a good health decision as I have previously said, and possibly a good economic decision for the state, but it is a disastrous decision for airlines.

Full Disclosure: I am a shareholder in Qantas and a range of other airlines, airport and travel-related stock. You can find the most up to date list of these interests in the Terms and Conditions (scroll to the bottom).