Qantas Extends Flight Cancellations Until End Of July

Qantas has released a fresh market update announcing its has secured a further $550 million in debt funding and extended flight cancellations until the end of July.

The Qantas Group said its goal was to strengthen its ability to deal with the short and likely long-term impacts of the coronavirus crisis.

Flight cancellations which were originally to last until the end of May will now last through to the end of July.

Qantas does, however, note that some capacity can be added back in if domestic and Trans-Tasman restrictions ease in coming weeks.

Qantas also commented that “the initial easing of government restrictions suggests some domestic travel may start to return before the end of July – though initial demand levels are hard to predict”.

“Australia has done an amazing job of flattening the curve and we’re optimistic that domestic travel will start returning earlier than first thought, but we clearly won’t be back to pre-coronavirus levels anytime soon,” Qantas Group CEO Alan Joyce said.

“With the possible exception of New Zealand, international travel demand could take years to return to what it was.”

Qantas Group CEO Alan Joyce

Alan Joyce also commented that Public health initiatives like the COVIDSafe app are one of the ways we’ll be able to start travelling sooner, so he strongly encourages all Australians to download it.

The Qantas Group is currently operating around 5 per cent of its pre-crisis domestic passenger network and around 1 per cent of its international network.

As a result of the crisis’ impact on travel, the current stand-down of employees will now be extended until at least the end of June.

Qantas and Jetstar customers with bookings impacted by the cancellations for June and July will be contacted directly and offered alternatives.

In response to feedback, travel credit conditions are being further improved.

Customers booked on Qantas and Jetstar flights disrupted by the Coronavirus crisis will be able to split travel credits across multiple future bookings.

This is on top of an extended period of time to use the credit.

Full details are available on Qantas.com and Jetstar.com.

Customers with bookings made through travel agents or third party websites will need to contact them directly.

The Flying Roo also revealed it has secured a further $550 million in funding against three of its wholly-owned Boeing 787-9 aircraft.

This follows the $1.05 billion raised in March against seven 787-9s.

Since the last cash balance update in March, Qantas has seen outflows including a $250 million bond repayment, elevated levels of annual leave payments from standing down more than 25,000 employees ahead of the JobKeeper program starting, and payment of bills from its pre-crisis levels of flying activity.