A Qantas 747-400 lands at Christchurch, New Zealand back in May 2006. Photo: Bill Mallinson – OPShots Contributor //
Australia’s Qantas Airways doubled its underlying annual profit as shrinking losses on its international arm offset tougher competition on its lucrative domestic routes.
Qantas, which formed an alliance with Emirates this year in an effort to trim losses on international routes, has been trying to keep its domestic yields up as investment in the once-booming resources sector slows and the government forecasts limp economic growth into 2014.
The slowdown has coincided with a ramping up in competition from rival Virgin Australia.
“Virgin has been trying to take market share in that domestic space, so Qantas has sort of retaliated and tried to hold their ground,” said Nathan Zaia, an analyst at Morningstar in Sydney, adding capacity is currently well above demand.
