The Qantas Group has posted its first full year profit since before Covid after the Australian air travel market rebounded strongly following the pandemic.

For FY23, the group achieved an underlying profit before tax of $2.47bn and a statutory after tax profit of $1.7 bn. This compares with $7bn in accumulated statutory losses over the three prior years.

Qantas said the profit was linked to the group’s $1bn recovery programme, a 132 per cent increase in flying compared with the previous year and strong travel demand driving significantly higher revenue.

Qantas Group recovery

Operational performance improved considerably during the year, with Qantas achieving the best on-time performance of the major domestic airlines for 11 months out of 12 and Jetstar returning to pre-Covid levels.

Customer satisfaction, while not back to pre-Covid levels, has also improved in line with operational performance.

This has enabled the group to keep investing heavily in customer experience, including firm orders for a further 24 Boeing and Airbus widebody aircraft from 2027 onwards to replace Qantas’ A330 and eventually A380 fleet.

Qantas Group CEO Alan Joyce said: “These results show a substantial turnaround in both our finances and service over the past year.

“Flight delays and cancellations have largely returned to pre-COVID levels and we’ve shifted from heavy losses to a strong profit and pipeline of investment worth billions of dollars.

“We safely flew almost 70 billion more seat kilometres and doubled the number of people we carried to 46 million compared to the year before. Travel demand is incredibly robust and we’ve taken delivery of more aircraft and opened up new routes to help meet it.

“The data shows customer satisfaction has improved significantly and we’re constantly working to deliver great travel experiences.

“It’s because we’re in a strong financial position that we’re able to invest in new aircraft, new destinations and new training facilities – all things that will make us better in the future.”
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