Qantas operations delivered $5bn to regional economy
Qantas’s operations delivered more than $5bn to the economy in regional Australia in the last financial year.
Qantas’s operations delivered more than $5 billion to the economy in regional Australia in the last financial year, according to a report.
The report comes as the cost of regional airfares has become a political issue, with outback residents airing their frustration at a Senate inquiry.
The report, which Qantas commissioned from Deloitte Access Economics, finds that $3.7bn in value was added from tourism spending in the regions. This in turn supported 36,000 jobs. Spending by tourists carried by the Qantas group airlines added $1.7bn in value to regional Queensland and $630 million in Western Australia.
The report estimates that the group makes $884m in direct contributions to the economy from the regional operations of the Qantas Group.
On top of this, there was more than $706m in indirect contributions to suppliers in the bush.
QantasLink chief executive John Gissing said that each year the carrier worked with more than 1200 suppliers from around the country “for everything from sourcing fresh barramundi on the north coast of WA, beef from country NSW or having our aircraft painted by a family-owned business in Townsville”.
The research also shows that Qantas directly provided 1034 jobs in regional Australia in roles such as cabin crew and pilots. Indirectly, it supports an extra 4599 jobs through areas such as catering.
Mr Gissing has recently been quoted in Qantas advertisements that have appeared in Mount Isa and Cloncurry, as well as Longreach, explaining the drivers behind airfares in the bush and acknowledging “frustration that the fares you pay are often higher than fares between capital cities”.
“Some of our regional routes actually run at a loss,” the ad says.
“Others are close to break-even. Busy flights and higher last-minute fares do not equal super profits.”
The carrier says in the ad that it has suspended its most expensive fares in key regional markets.
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