Originally Posted by
Atlas Shrugged
If true, that would leave only 4 380's in service would it not.....? Interesting to see which routes are dropped.
definitely true. Joyce had a press conference to confirm it. Now around 32 aircraft grounded. I heard also the Sydney London via Singapore flight will be re routed via Perth until end of April. At least I think that is what was said. Seems mostly Asian services affected.
Australia's largest airline has been heavily affected by the drop in demand for global and domestic travel and the latest capacity cut represents a 23 per cent drop in international seats compared to this time last year. The cuts leave all but two of its A380 aircraft grounded and will remain in place until mid-SeptemberThe airline also announced it would delay an order for Airbus A350 planes and it was cancelling plans for a $150 million off-market share buyback to preserve cash.
Instead of cutting entire routes, Qantas is using smaller aircraft where possible and also reducing the number of flights across its network. The reductions are equivalent to grounding 38 planes.
Domestic flights across Qantas and Jetstar will also be cut further until at least mid-September.
Qantas retains the ability to "go a lot deeper" with flight cuts, Mr Joyce said, as he sounded an ominous warning for the aviation sector in the face of the ongoing health crisis.
"We know we can ride this out. Not all airlines in the world will," he said
I think this will be survival of the fittest, and I think Qantas is one of the fittest and [most] dynamic airlines in the world."
The changes mean just two of the airline's fleet of 12 Airbus A380 jumbo planes will remain flying. The Sydney-London route will not stopover in Singapore after April 20, with the flight instead re-routed through Perth.
The launch of the Brisbane-Chicago route has been shelved until September, while Jetstar will suspend flights to Bangkok and cut flights to Japan and Vietnam by almost half.
Compared to the same time last year, the reductions represent a 31 per cent cut to Asian services, while the US (19 per cent) and the UK (17 per cent) are also affected as travel demand collapses amid the uncontained spread of the virus into Europe and the US.