Jabs or no, Qantas eyes October take off

Qantas is holding firm on its plan to resume international flights on October 31 despite delays in the vaccination rollout.

Qantas is holding firm on its planned return to regular international services on October 31, despite the Prime Minister’s admission the majority of Australians will not be vaccinated against COVID-19 until next year.

The airline announced in February international flights would resume to most of its pre-COVID destinations in late October instead of July, based on the federal government’s vaccination program.

Qantas Group CEO Alan Joyce said last year vaccination against COVID-19 would be a condition of boarding an overseas flight to anywhere other than New Zealand.

In a statement released late Monday, Qantas said it was “closely monitoring the recent developments in the rollout of vaccines in Australia”.

“The government has not updated its timeline for the effective completion of the vaccine rollout and at this stage there’s no change to the planned restart of our international flights,” said a Qantas spokeswoman.

“We’ll continue to have dialogue with the government.”

It follows the revelation last week, there was a small risk of blood clots developing in some recipients of the AstraZeneca vaccination, prompting a recommendation for people under 50 to discuss the issue with their doctor.

On Friday Scott Morrison announced his government had secured an extra 20 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine, but they would not arrive until the last quarter.

That was followed by an admission the original expectation that most Australians would be vaccinated by late October, could not be guaranteed.

Qantas suspended all scheduled international flights over a year ago in response to the international border closure at the end of March.

Since then the carrier has operated only government-subsidised repatriation flights to bring stranded Australians home.

A further delay to international travel would be a devastating blow to Qantas, and the 7000 employees employed in the sector, most of whom remain stood down.

Last month the government announced a $1.2bn aviation support package including $200m to help Qantas and Virgin Australia maintain their international flying capability.

Mr Joyce said the funds would help employees retain their operational currency and provide financial support to the tune of $500 a week, following the end of the JobKeeper allowance.

The scheme covered the period from April to the end of October, when international flying was expected to resume.

Qantas will dramatically increase its trans-Tasman flying next week following the opening of the two-way bubble between Australia and New Zealand, with as many as 150 flights a week.

They include two new routes between Auckland and the Gold Coast and Cairns.

Since launching the extra services, Qantas has reported strong sales for trans-Tasman flights particularly in light of Virgin Australia’s decision to delay its return to New Zealand until September.