Those of one in the North West will have mixed feelings to hear the news Qantas has recorded a 15 per cent increase in annual profit in the last financial year.
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According to the ABC report, the rise was due to strong demand for travel and an easing of capacity wars that had dented domestic flight profit margins in earlier years.
The airline made a full-year net profit after tax of $980 million, versus $852 million the year before.
The company's preferred measure of "underlying profit before tax" also rose from $1.4 billion to $1.6 billion, which is a record for Qantas.
That’s all well and good and shows some astute management of behalf on Alan Joyce and his team.
But it is cold comfort for those us in this part of the world who are contributing more than our fair share to these healthy profits.
Short term options for flights remain fiendishly expensive – that’s if you can get a ticket.
As I write these words on a Thursday I decided to check out the prices of Qantas flights between Mount Isa and Brisbane in the coming days.
This is a purely hypothetical exercise – I’m off to Birdsville Races this weekend and I’m not relying on Qantas to get there – but what if I had an emergency and needed to get to Brisbane in a hurry?
Well if I wanted to go tomorrow (Friday) the cheapest flight one way is $555 (and probably quite a bit more when you add booking fees and credit card fees) and that’s with Virgin.
The cheapest Qantas one way flight is $686 though presumably there is some reduction for residents fare rates if you can remember your frequent flier logon details and can navigate their confusing website (it may just be me but when I went looking last time I gave up after 15 frustrating minutes of navigating an unhelpful website).
Let’s assume then you want to get home Sunday evening to be at work Monday.
The cheapest I could find was Qantas at $686. So that’s $1372 Qantas return – not bad for a weekend’s work.
How about sharing some of that profit love around, Mr Joyce? – Derek Barry