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Qantas says it will keep a tight focus on costs and ensure capacity matches demand as intense competition on international routes pushes fares lower than a year ago. Friday, Qantas CE Alan Joyce said the airline would "stay disciplined on cost, manage our capacity to match demand", and carefully hedge fuel. "Like most other global carriers, intense competition on international routes means we're seeing air fares below where they were 12 months ago," he said. "And the economic transition in Australia and broader geopolitical issues in the northern hemisphere continue to have an impact on aviation markets globally." Joyce said flights to London from Australia's east coast had been a challenge because Qantas was competing against more than 30 airlines on the so-called kangaroo route. <br/>

Malaysia Airlines is completing a charter business concept to operate its 6 Airbus A380s in a dedicated subsidiary for religious pilgrimage traffic. The new charter operations would likely be put into a separate entity and could formally launch before December. Malaysia Airlines CE Peter Bellew met with Airbus management this week. “Airbus can adapt the cabins within 4 to 6 weeks to accommodate 700 passengers in an all-economy class seating, including pray areas on board the A380, besides other features,” a spokesperson said. Bellew expects there is enough demand on the new routes for up to 20 A380s to carry pilgrims from around the world to Mecca. “So far there is no name for [the subsidiary],” the spokesperson said. The new subsidiary could likely launch in 2018 when Malaysia Airlines’ first Airbus A350-900 arrives. <br/>