Qantas is predicting changes to its fleet and ultra-long haul flights will drive a whopping $400m in earnings when the planes finally hit the sky.
The national carrier is on track to hit a record profit of $2.48 billion for the latest financial year – almost $1 billion higher than pre-Covid profits.
Highly-anticipated long-haul flights between Australia, Europe and North America – known as Project Sunrise – are expected to drive a “significant incremental” increase to earnings.
Another factor is the twelve Airbus A350-1000 aircraft that were ordered specifically to deliver the direct route services to London and New York.
“[Project Sunrise] is expected to deliver significant incremental earnings increases, reaching an estimated $400+ million EBIT per annum in the first full year of having all 12 aircraft in service,” Qantas said in a statement outlining their 2030 strategy.
Inaugural flights are scheduled to takeoff in late 2025 and will cut down point-to-travel time by up to four hours compared to routes with one stop.
Qantas Group chief executive Alan Joyce said updates to the airline’s long-term technique is proof of the business’ transformation because the pandemic.
“This is a structurally different business than it was before Covid, operating in markets that have also changed,” he stated.
Arrivals of next-generation plane are central to the airline’s plan to adapt to trade adjustments.
“New technology is central to our plan and the next-generation aircraft that have started arriving will transform our network over the next few years,” he stated.
“We’ll be able to serve our customers better, reduce our cost base through lower running costs and carve out some new competitive advantages.”
Qantas chief monetary officer and incoming chief government Vanessa Hudson stated the technique reveals the airline is making “ambitious but achievable goals”.
“We’re confident in reaching our FY24 margin targets and we’ve set some ambitious but achievable earnings goals beyond that, because we think ambition is key to long-term performance, she said.
Ms Hudson also indicated decarbonisation of the fleet will form part of Qantas’ focus moving forward but said the long-term focus was on ensuring the strength of the business.
“We’re determined to be a leader in this space and that’s supported by the new commitments we’ve made today, as well as calling for more action industry-wide in the form of a sustainable aviation fuel mandate,” she stated.
“Our long-term focus remains delivering for customers, employees and shareholders, and making sure we have a strong business that generates strong returns is the best way to enable that.”
Source: www.perthnow.com.au
