Qantas prepares to restart 40% of domestic flying by end of July

Qantas is preparing to scale up its domestic flying from its current 5% of pre-pandemic levels to 40% by the end of July, pending the reopening of state borders. The airline said on Thursday that travel demand was picking up sufficiently to start adding capacity to its Australian network, which would enable some of its 25,000 stood down employees to return to work. Qantas and its budget arm Jetstar have been flying at about 5% of their normal domestic capacity since the coronavirus shut some state borders and eliminated demand for non-essential travel. The airline said it would gradually start increasing capacity to reach 15 per cent by the end of June, or about 300 return flights per week. Qantas and Jetstar flights between Sydney and Melbourne would increase from 12 return flights a week to 67 by the end of June. Qantas has scheduled flights equivalent to 40% of its normal network by the end of July but will cancel some of those flights if there is not the expected level of bookings or if state borders remain closed. Queensland, Western Australia, South Australia, Tasmania and the Northern Territory are yet to open their borders for interstate travel by non-residents. “We know there is a lot of pent-up demand for air travel and we are already seeing a big increase in customers booking and planning flights in the weeks and months ahead,” Qantas CE Alan Joyce said.<br/>