Qantas keeps focus on costs as competition sparks fall in international fares

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/>