Latest news with #QantasGroup
Daily Mail
23-05-2025
- Daily Mail
BREAKING NEWS Jetstar planes affected by major glitch causing long delays for passengers - what you need to know
Aussie budget airline Jetstar is one of several carriers around the world being impacted by a major GPS glitch causing long delays for travellers. A number of Jetstar's Airbus planes suffered a fault in their navigation system just days after the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) issued a warning about solar flare activity. Pilots on affected planes received a message 'requiring the (GPS) system to be reset before the flight departs'. The glitch sparked delays for flights to Bali, Fiji and Hobart from airports on Australia's east coast on Thursday. There was no safety concern for passengers, a Jetstar spokesperson said. 'Engineers have inspected the aircraft and have determined the multiple aircraft GPS systems continue to operate and transmit signals,' they told Daily Mail Australia. 'At no time has there been any impact to safety as a result of this issue. There has been minimal impact to our operation and we thank our customers for their patience if they have experienced any delays while engineers conduct system resets.' The Jetstar planes fleets affected include the new Airbus A320 Neos and A321 Neos. No other Qantas Group aircraft types were impacted and Virgin Australia has confirmed their planes were unaffected. The GPS fault follows a NASA warning about solar flares - a burst of radiation from the sun that can knock out satellites and communications. Aviation expert Richard de Crespigny said solar flares could affect computers. 'The Earth is having bad weather at the moment. Every 11 years the sun's magnetic field flips,' the expert said. 'It causes pimples on the face of the sun, radiation, and it's (a) very high intensity and it overcomes or jams the GPS signals that come to Earth. 'The GPS inputs to about 16 different systems on the aeroplane, even the clock. GPS requirements are higher in an aircraft than a car.' On May 20, the NOAA issued a warning about solar flare activity saying it 'can cause interference for sensitive receivers including radar, GPS, and satellite communications '. A solar storm is a sudden explosion of particles, energy, magnetic fields, and material blasted into the solar system by the sun. 'When directed toward Earth, a solar storm can create a major disturbance in Earth's magnetic field, called a geomagnetic storm, that can produce effects such as radio blackouts, power outages, and beautiful auroras,' NASA said.
Perth Now
20-05-2025
- Business
- Perth Now
Qantas and Jetstar cash in on lack of airline competition
Australia's sole budget carrier has cashed in on the lack of competition in the nation's aviation sector. Within the Qantas Group's whopping $1.5 billion earnings before tax in the first half of 2024-25, Jetstar jacked up prices to record an operating margin of 18 per cent. That is up from 13 per cent in the first half of the 2023-24 financial year, the increase coinciding with fellow budget airline Bonza's collapse in April 2024. It helped delivered a massive earnings increase for the Qantas Group, with Jetstar domestic flight revenue jumping 54 per cent in that same time frame. The findings come from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission's quarterly look at domestic airline competition, which found both Qantas and Virgin Australia had recorded impressive financial results in the back half of 2024. Virgin has not publicly reported its half-year results, although chief executive Jayne Hrdlicka said in February it had achieved record profits. ACCC commissioner Anna Brakey said Jetstar's earnings jump was largely explained by Bonza's demise. Compared with an 18 per cent operating margin on domestic flights, Jetstar's international flights were at 15 per cent due to the increased competition, the report said. 'The high half-yearly earnings reported by Qantas Group reflect its dominance of the domestic airline sector, with Qantas and Jetstar accounting for over 60 per cent of passengers,' Brakey said. 'Jetstar has been able to capitalise on the continued absence of competitive pressure from another low-cost carrier in the domestic market to increase its market share and operating margin.' The report found airlines had improved their punctuality in the past six months from 74.5 per cent to 80.2 per cent. But that still sits below the industry's long-term average of 80.7 per cent. 'It is encouraging to see the on-time arrival rate improving as this means travellers can have more confidence that their flight will arrive at the time they booked,' Brakey said. The cancellation rate spiked in the March quarter to five per cent — way above the long-term mark of 2.2 per cent — but that period included ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred. The average airfare increased by 9.6 per cent between the three months to January 2025 and March 2025, but the ACCC did not find that result to be too alarming. 'The trends observed in average airfares since January reflect seasonal factors and are broadly consistent with those observed in previous years,' Brakey said. 'Average airfares have come down from their peak in October 2024.'
7NEWS
20-05-2025
- Business
- 7NEWS
Qantas and Jetstar cash in on lack of airline competition with $1.5 billion in earnings and major profits
Australia's sole budget carrier has cashed in on the lack of competition in the nation's aviation sector. Within the Qantas Group's whopping $1.5 billion earnings before tax in the first half of 2024-25, Jetstar jacked up prices to record an operating margin of 18 per cent. That is up from 13 per cent in the first half of the 2023-24 financial year, the increase coinciding with fellow budget airline Bonza's collapse in April 2024. It helped delivered a massive earnings increase for the Qantas Group, with Jetstar domestic flight revenue jumping 54 per cent in that same time frame. The findings come from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission's quarterly look at domestic airline competition, which found both Qantas and Virgin Australia had recorded impressive financial results in the back half of 2024. Virgin has not publicly reported its half-year results, although chief executive Jayne Hrdlicka said in February it had achieved record profits. ACCC commissioner Anna Brakey said Jetstar's earnings jump was largely explained by Bonza's demise. Compared with an 18 per cent operating margin on domestic flights, Jetstar's international flights were at 15 per cent due to the increased competition, the report said. 'The high half-yearly earnings reported by Qantas Group reflect its dominance of the domestic airline sector, with Qantas and Jetstar accounting for over 60 per cent of passengers,' Brakey said. 'Jetstar has been able to capitalise on the continued absence of competitive pressure from another low-cost carrier in the domestic market to increase its market share and operating margin.' The report found airlines had improved their punctuality in the past six months from 74.5 per cent to 80.2 per cent. But that still sits below the industry's long-term average of 80.7 per cent. 'It is encouraging to see the on-time arrival rate improving as this means travellers can have more confidence that their flight will arrive at the time they booked,' Brakey said. The cancellation rate spiked in the March quarter to five per cent — way above the long-term mark of 2.2 per cent — but that period included ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred. The average airfare increased by 9.6 per cent between the three months to January 2025 and March 2025, but the ACCC did not find that result to be too alarming. 'The trends observed in average airfares since January reflect seasonal factors and are broadly consistent with those observed in previous years,' Brakey said. 'Average airfares have come down from their peak in October 2024.'
Sky News AU
20-05-2025
- Business
- Sky News AU
Qantas Group, Virgin Australia reap mega earnings on little aviation competition, strong domestic travel demand: ACCC
Australia's major airlines continue to reap huge earnings as limited competition and strong travel demand has secured strong financial results for the nation's dominating carriers. This is according to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission which delivered its latest report monitoring the nation's domestic airline sector. The consumer watchdog pointed to Qantas Group's $1.5b in earnings for the first half of 2025 financial year, which includes its budget subsidiary Jetstar. Qantas Group earned $916m from its domestic operations across both carriers while Jetstar reporting a massive earnings surge of about 54 per cent between the first half of the 2024 and 2025 financial years. It comes as Jetstar remains the only low-cost carrier in Australia since the collapse of Bonza last year and Tigerair's exit in 2020. ACCC Commissioner Anna Brakey said the lack of competition was a major boon for the budget airline. 'Jetstar has been able to capitalise on the continued absence of competitive pressure from another low-cost carrier in the domestic market to increase its market share and operating margin,' Ms Brakey said in a statement. The watchdog said the withdrawal of Rex from the major city routes after it went into administration sent more passengers to Virgin Australia, nudging the major carrier's market share up three per cent to 34 per cent. This comes as Virgin secured three Boeing 737 aircraft leases from Rex. While Virgin does not publicly report its half-year results, its former CEO Jayne Hrdlicka said the airline achieved record profits in the first half of the 2025 financial year after it was restructured under Bain Capital. Qantas' profit was boosted by its 80 per cent share of the corporate travel market, playing an important role in Qantas Domestic's $647m in earnings. "The high half-yearly earnings reported by Qantas Group reflect its dominance of the domestic airline sector, with Qantas and Jetstar accounting for over 60 per cent of passengers," Ms Brakey said. While passenger demand took a hit during March with the impacts of ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred leading to a downturn in Brisbane and Gold Coast flights, passenger numbers surged in April due to the school holidays, Easter and ANZAC Day all falling in a three week period. 'Airservices Australia noted that 17 April 2025 (the Thursday before Good Friday) was the busiest day for domestic travel in the past five years,' the ACCC wrote. Qantas delivered its first dividend since 2019 earlier this year after revealing its stellar results for the first half of the 2025 financial year. 'Our financial strength means we are now in a position to pay our shareholders dividends for the first time in almost six years,' Qantas Group CEO Vanessa Hudson said. Alongside the dividend, the airline said it had paid 27,000 non-executive employees $1000 each as a "thank you payment" in December. Qantas also noted a drop with international airfares of about 6.6 per cent, while domestic flights increased 0.8 per cent. Jetstar's low fares were a point of pride for the company as about one third of tickets below $100 for the six-month period.
West Australian
20-05-2025
- Business
- West Australian
Qantas, Jetstar cash in on lack of airline competition
Australia's sole budget carrier has cashed in on the lack of competition in the nation's aviation sector. Within the Qantas Group's whopping $1.5 billion earnings before tax in the first half of 2024-25, Jetstar jacked up prices to record an operating margin of 18 per cent. That is up from 13 per cent in the first half of the 2023-24 financial year, the increase coinciding with fellow budget airline Bonza's collapse in April 2024. It helped delivered a massive earnings increase for the Qantas Group, with Jetstar domestic flight revenue jumping 54 per cent in that same time frame. The findings come from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission's quarterly look at domestic airline competition, which found both Qantas and Virgin Australia had recorded impressive financial results in the back half of 2024. Virgin has not publicly reported its half-year results, although chief executive Jayne Hrdlicka said in February it had achieved record profits. ACCC commissioner Anna Brakey said Jetstar's earnings jump was largely explained by Bonza's demise. Compared with an 18 per cent operating margin on domestic flights, Jetstar's international flights were at 15 per cent due to the increased competition, the report said. "The high half-yearly earnings reported by Qantas Group reflect its dominance of the domestic airline sector, with Qantas and Jetstar accounting for over 60 per cent of passengers," Ms Brakey said. "Jetstar has been able to capitalise on the continued absence of competitive pressure from another low-cost carrier in the domestic market to increase its market share and operating margin." The report found airlines had improved their punctuality in the past six months from 74.5 per cent to 80.2 per cent. But that still sits below the industry's long-term average of 80.7 per cent. "It is encouraging to see the on-time arrival rate improving as this means travellers can have more confidence that their flight will arrive at the time they booked," Ms Brakey said. The cancellation rate spiked in the March quarter to five per cent - way above the long-term mark of 2.2 per cent- but that period included ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred. The average airfare increased by 9.6 per cent between the three months to January 2025 and March 2025, but the ACCC did not find that result to be too alarming. "The trends observed in average airfares since January reflect seasonal factors and are broadly consistent with those observed in previous years," Ms Brakey said. "Average airfares have come down from their peak in October 2024."
