Qantas confirms early return of five Airbus A380s in 2021 financial results

Qantas has confirmed five of its Airbus A380 aircraft will return earlier than expected to operate flights from Australia to Los Angeles and London from mid-2022. The announcement was made following the release of the 2021 financial results of the Qantas Group, which includes both Qantas and Jetstar. It reported an underlying loss before tax of A$1.83b. The airline plans to focus on destinations with high vaccination rates in 2022 including North America, UK, Singapore and Japan. A total of 10 double-decker Airbus A380s with upgraded cabins will return to service, while two will be retired. The airline group said Australia's vaccination rates appear to be on track to meet the threshold of 80% in December 2021, which would trigger the gradual reopening of international borders. Qantas and Jetstar have pushed back plans to relaunch flights to destinations with low vaccination rates or high levels of COVID-19 until April 2022. These include Bali, Jakarta, Manila, Bangkok, Phuket, Ho Chi Minh City and Johannesburg. <br/>