Australia flag carrier Qantas Airways has cancelled all international flights until late October except those to New Zealand to slow the spread of the coronavirus.
The decision by Qantas to cancel all international flights, except for New Zealand, until October comes following the Australian government’s announcement that its border would remain closed into next year to slow the spread of the coronavirus.
Meanwhile, travel restrictions within Australia are easing, allowing the airline and its subsidiary Jetstar to increase the number of their domestic flights. Qantas recorded an increase in domestic passengers from 32,000 last week to 64.000 this week.
Closing down the border
Australia’s Tourism Minister Simon Birmingham is encouraging Australians to take their holidays within the country this year.
Birmingham said: "We still have some flights scheduled across the Tasman in the coming months, with the expected travel bubble between Australia and New Zealand."
Previously, the tourism minister explained that the decision to close down the country's border was one of the main reasons Australia had been successful in controlling the spread of the pandemic. He reiterated that borders would not be reopened any time soon for general travel.
Birmingham told the National Press Club: "I do sadly think that in terms of open tourist-related travel in or out of Australia, that remains quite some distance off." When asked whether the border would remain closed until 2021, he responded: "I think that is more likely the case".
Qantas also announced that it will increase domestic flights to 15% of pre-coronavirus levels with the lifting of some travel restrictions. However, the airline assured that it is ready to ramp up its international schedule as soon as government regulations allow.
The carrier said: “Should travel between Australia and other countries open up and demand returns, we can add more flights back into our schedule."
Global impact of coronavirus on airlines
In March, UK carrier Flybe announced that it has grounded all flights as it enters administration following the lack of demand for flights due to the coronavirus outbreak. It also confirmed that its business had “ceased trading with immediate effect” in the UK.
In a statement, the airline told customers: “If you are due to fly with Flybe, please DO NOT TRAVEL TO THE AIRPORT unless you have arranged an alternative flight with another airline. Please note that Flybe is unfortunately not able to arrange alternative flights for passengers.”
It added that its financial challenges had been “compounded by the outbreak of coronavirus which in the last few days has resulted in a significant impact on demand.”
Last week, Germain airline Lufthansa announced that it will reduce its global workforce by 22,000 jobs as it predicted a slow recovery in demand and is also expecting to reduce its fleet by 100 aircraft after the crisis.
According to the German carrier, half the job cuts would be in Germany.
The company hopes to come up with an agreement on the measures with unions by June 22. Lufthansa also hoped to minimize redundancies via short-time working arrangements and crisis agreements.
The airline said: “The aim is to pave the way for the preservation of as many jobs as possible in the Lufthansa Group.”
Currently, the company has over 135,000 people globally with around half of them located in Germany.
