- Title: Qantas aims for international travel from December as loss narrows
- Date: 26th August 2021
- Summary: SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA (FILE) (REUTERS) QANTAS PLANE LANDING ON TARMAC VARIOUS OF QANTAS PLANES ON TARMAC
- Embargoed: 9th September 2021 03:30
- Keywords: Australia Qantas international travel pandemic travel
- Location: SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA
- City: SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA
- Country: Australia
- Topics: Asia / Pacific,Australia,Company News Markets,Economic Events
- Reuters ID: LVA001ERX06YV
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Qantas Airways Ltd on Thursday (August 26) said it was preparing for international travel with countries with high vaccine rates to resume in December, sending shares higher, as it reported a narrower annual loss of A$1.73 billion ($1.26 billion).
Pending government decisions, Qantas said it expected flights to countries with high vaccine rates like Singapore, Japan, the United States, Britain, and hopefully New Zealand to resume from mid-December.
It is a hopeful sign for travel in the Asia-Pacific region, where borders are largely closed and international travel is 95% below pre-COVID levels, though the Qantas plan is dependent on government decisions. Shares rose as much as 3.7% in early trading.
Flights to places with lower vaccination rates like Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand, and South Africa would restart from April 2022 at the earliest, it added.
The airline forecasts international capacity will reach 30% to 40% of pre-COVID levels in the third quarter and 50% to 70% in the fourth quarter.
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