(Reuters) – Australia’s flag carrier Qantas Airways Ltd said on Friday it expected its international capacity to be around 19% of pre-COVID levels -12 to March2024 levels as it plans to add more seats and aircraft to its global network.
The airline plans to increase seats on its international network for a period of months beginning in late October, Qantas said. The number is about 1 million. It has brought back five international aircraft to its fleet in the past six months and will lease two Airbus A300 from Finnair for additional capacity.
“Since borders have reopened, international travel demand has rebounded very strongly…” Chief Executive Alan Joyce said in a statement, while pointing to international flight supply and demand. Mismatch.
Qantas posted a record profit in the first half of the financial year as strong travel demand pushed up fares and revenue.
The airline will need about
more pilots and crew to support the additional flights by the end of the year, it said.
Qantas said in March it expects to create more than 8,500 highly skilled jobs in the Australian aviation industry over the next decade jobs, including 1,300 new positions for pilots and 4,300 cabin crew roles.
In a separate statement on Friday, the airline said it had started construction on a new flight training center in Sydney that could train up to four people, 330 Qantas and Jetstar pilots and cabin crew start at the beginning of the year 2024 each year.
