Qantas is testing a Boeing 787-9 to fly between New York and Sydney nonstop for the first time.
Source: Qantas
Qantas has phased out the inventory of almost all of its international flights as of March 2021, as the coronavirus pandemic continues to affect air travel.
Australia’s flagship airline will only maintain a few flights to New Zealand, the Executive Traveler travel website wrote this week, which are currently on the ground until mid-August this year.
Removing inventory means the routes in question are no longer bookable, and generally precedes complete cancellation, Conde Nast Traveler wrote Monday. Previously booked flights have not been canceled, but new reservations cannot be made.
Qantas did not respond to CNBC’s request for comment at the time of publication.
As pandemics worldwide closed and countries closed their borders to travelers, Qantas announced in March the suspension of all international flights until October, a date that now appears to have been extended to a full year. Alan Joyce, CEO of Qantas Airways, told Australian media in June that he doesn’t see a substantial restart in airline services until at least July of next year.
The airline announced in June that it would withdraw its six Boeing 747 aircraft immediately, six months earlier than originally planned, and would cut 20% of its staff. It has also grounded its fleet of double-decker Airbus A380s, wide-body aircraft used for long-distance travel, for the next three years, Conde Nast wrote.
The airline’s share price has fallen slightly more than 50% to date, trading at $ 3.49 a share at 10 am ET on Tuesday, 0.57% less than the previous day.
No airline has been spared the devastating effects of the coronavirus pandemic and its subsequent government-ordered blockades. The International Air Transport Association (IATA) forecast last month that airlines were on track to lose $ 84 billion this year, and another $ 15 billion in 2021.
In April, air travel fell more than 90% from a year earlier, according to IATA, in what is expected to be the worst year in the industry’s history.
Australia is considered to have controlled the virus largely through strict border closure and closure measures. It has also implemented a ban on its citizens traveling abroad and a 14-day quarantine for those returning to the country, measures that are still in force.
“We have to position ourselves for several years, when revenues will be much lower,” said Qantas’ Joyce in a statement in June that outlined a three-year roadmap to restructure the airline. “And this means becoming a much smaller airline in the short term.”
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