The airline said this morning that, in order to mitigate the impact of the conflict, it has increased ticket fares, adjusted its flight capacity, and made changes to its international flight network, News.Az reports, citing Australian media.
Qantas also announced that it has raised its fuel cost forecast to as much as $3.3 billion for the second half of the financial year. Previously, it had estimated fuel costs at $2.5 billion.
The airline stated that it is closely monitoring the fuel situation and working with governments and suppliers, who, according to Qantas, continue to provide confidence in fuel supply for the remainder of April and well into May.
More changes could be ahead, with the airline saying it "retains optionality to take further actions to mitigate fuel cost increases over time".
Qantas also said it had reduced domestic capacity by about 5 percentage points in May and June.
The majority of the cuts would be made on routes between major capital cities, where the airline flies larger aircraft at higher frequencies.
The airline cited the continued fuel price volatility and global economic conditions as reasons for the capacity cut.
Qantas said it continued to see "strong demand for international travel to Europe as customers seek alternative routes".
"In response, the Group has redeployed capacity from the US and its domestic network to increase flights to Paris and Rome."
The airline does not operate in the Middle East but said it was working with airline partners to give customers options to move flights or receive refunds.
It now forecasts its international revenue per available seat kilometre, a profitability measure for airlines, to be double its previous guidance (which includes fares sold prior to the conflict).
Qantas said it would indefinitely cancel all its services in and out of the regional South Australian city of Mount Gambier from next month, citing fuel costs and declining demand.
Four temporary route suspensions have also been announced:
- Qantas flights between Melbourne and Hamilton Island from May 18 to June 28
- Qantas flights between Melbourne and Coffs Harbour between May 18 and June 28
- Jetstar flights between Sydney and Busselton from May 18 to September 22
- Jetstar flights between Darwin and the Gold Coast from May 18 to October 12
Last month, Jetstar said it would reduce flights between Australia and New Zealand due to rising fuel costs.
The Qantas-owned airline confirmed that 12 per cent of services on some flights between Auckland and Sydney, and between Auckland and Brisbane, will be impacted from May.
Services within New Zealand, between Auckland and Christchurch, and between Auckland and Wellington, will also be reduced, and Jetstar said all impacted passengers had been contacted directly and most had been offered same-day travel.
