Qantas suffered its third consecutive annual pre-tax loss of more than A$1 billion, reflecting the impact of the Delta and Omicron Covid-19 variants.
The carrier also faced upfront costs from restarting the airline as lockdowns finally ended.
Qantas said: “While the first three quarters of the year were defined by border closures and waves of uncertainty caused by Covid variants, the fourth quarter saw the highest sustained levels of travel demand since the start of the pandemic.”
Overall flying levels for the year averaged at 33% of pre-pandemic levels but finished at 68%.
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Heavy losses by the international passenger business were offset by a record performance in cargo, while domestic operations were profitable in the fourth quarter.
International capacity averaged just 17% of pre-Covid levels for the year but rose to 49% by June 30.
“While the reopening of Australia’s border in November 2021 finally saw international passenger travel return, the rebound was initially slowed by the Omicron variant and the delayed opening of key markets such as New Zealand and Indonesia,” Qantas said.
“The reopening of borders saw a huge increase in forward travel demand, which when combined with the group’s recovery plan, has resulted in a significant improvement to the balance sheet.
“With the existential crisis posed by the pandemic now over, the group is focused on responding to current operational challenges.
“Key customer measures for Qantas including contact centre wait times, cancellation rates and mishandled bag rates are trending back towards pre-Covid standards during August 2022.”
The carrier has now resumed flying to 19 international points and announced eight new destinations, including Rome, Seoul and Delhi.
Flights to New York will recommence, with a new service from Australia via Auckland from June 14 next year.
Qantas Group chief executive Alan Joyce said: “This result takes the statutory loss before tax impact of Covid on the Qantas Group to nearly $7 billion and our total revenue losses to $25 billion.
“These figures are staggering and getting through to the other side has obviously been tough.
“The past year has been challenging for everyone. We had to ramp down almost all flying once Delta hit and stay that way for several months before ramping back up through multiple Omicron waves as we all learned to live with Covid in the community.
“We always knew travel demand would recover strongly but the speed and scale of that recovery has been exceptional. Our teams have done an amazing job through the restart and our customers have been extremely patient as the whole industry has dealt with sick leave and labour shortages in the past few months.
“Safety remains number one, but our service isn’t at the level expected of the national carrier. There is a lot of work happening to bring us back to our best, including hiring more people, rolling out new technology and reducing domestic flying so we have more sick leave cover.
“We saw a big improvement in baggage handling and cancellations in August, which we expect will return to pre-Covid standards next month. On time performance also improved significantly and should be close to our usual high standard in September.
“We’re even more confident in the future than we were six months ago, so today we’re announcing more investment in our people and our customers, including a major boost to staff travel benefits, new routes and new lounges. We’re also announcing the first capital return for shareholders since they provided us A$1.4 billion at the start of the pandemic to support our recovery plan.”
More: Qantas chief admits flight disruption ‘not good enough’