Qantas shares fall on capacity cut

Shares in Qantas have dropped more than 14 per cent after the airline cuts back on flights due to soft demand and confidence.

A Qantas Airbus A330 aircraft at Sydney Domestic Airport

Qantas shares have fallen more than 14 per cent after the airline axed plans to add more flights. (AAP)

Qantas shares have fallen more than 14 per cent after the airline axed its plans to add more flights, blaming soft demand and confidence.

The airline said Monday that it had revised plans to increase seat capacity in April, May and June because of weak customer demand.

"Some softness in demand, related to the upcoming federal election and recent drop in consumer confidence in Australia, began to emerge over the peak Easter and school holiday period in late March and continued to be seen in forward bookings in April and May," Qantas said in a statement.

To mitigate the negative impact on the group's domestic operations, domestic capacity growth in the fourth quarter will now be negative compared to the same period a year earlier.

Qantas shares fell as much as 14.29 per cent to $3.48 in early morning trade on the Australian stock market. At 1254 AEST, Qantas shares were down 44 cents, or 10.84 per cent, at $3.62 in a lower market.


Share

1 min read

Published

Source: AAP



Share this with family and friends


Get SBS News daily and direct to your Inbox

Sign up now for the latest news from Australia and around the world direct to your inbox.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

Download our apps
SBS News
SBS Audio
SBS On Demand

Listen to our podcasts
An overview of the day's top stories from SBS News
Interviews and feature reports from SBS News
Your daily ten minute finance and business news wrap with SBS Finance Editor Ricardo Gonçalves.
A daily five minute news wrap for English learners and people with disability
Get the latest with our News podcasts on your favourite podcast apps.

Watch on SBS
SBS World News

SBS World News

Take a global view with Australia's most comprehensive world news service
Watch the latest news videos from Australia and across the world