oneworld

Qantas Airways told travel agents in Zimbabwe to stop selling tickets for its flights after IATA warned it’s getting harder to move funds out of the country, according to a circular sent by the airline to agencies. The carrier is owed a “substantial” amount by Bank Settlement Plan Zimbabwe, the system that IATA uses to transfer local ticket revenue to airlines, according to the circular from Michi Messner, Qantas’s regional manager for Africa. “We’ve been advised by IATA that the situation with the repatriation of funds out of Zimbabwe is worsening,” she wrote. The move is an early sign that airlines may be scaling back operations in the southern African country, which is battling a shortage of banknotes that’s forced lenders to cap customer withdrawals and seen retailers offer large discounts for cash payments. <br/>

American Airlines Group said a closely watched revenue measure rose more than expected in Q1, signalling that a long-awaited recovery in average fares has begun to take hold. Passenger revenue for each seat flown a mile rose as much as 4%, up from a previous forecast that unit revenue would increase as much as 3.5%. Pre-tax profit margin excluding one-time items also exceeded a previous forecast and the airline raised its planned growth in flights and seats. The results signalled progress for American in a 2-year struggle by US airlines to regain pricing power in the wake of a 2015 fare war. Delta said earlier this month that unit revenue fell in the quarter as the price of last-minute tickets recovered more slowly than expected, and United Continental said Monday that the measure would be flat compared with a year ago. <br/>