Australia's Qantas records higher fuel costs in 2023-24

Australian airline Qantas Airways recorded a higher fuel bill in the 2023-24 fiscal year to 30 June, as more flights, sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) expenses and carbon offset programmes weighed on costs.

Qantas saw its fuel costs rise by 17pc from a year earlier to A$5.32bn ($3.62bn) in 2023-24, according to the company's full-year financial results released on 29 August.

The airline group's passenger carrying capacity was up by 21pc on the previous year, with growth in domestic and international capaicty. This saw the group's overall fuel consumption grow to 29mn bl (79,000 b/d), or 18pc up on the previous year.

Qantas expects fuel costs in the first half of 2024-25 to remain stable from a year earlier at about A$2.7bn, including hedging and gross carbon costs, with the group forecasting to consume 15.6mn bl of fuel, including SAF.

Qantas forecasts domestic group capacity to rise to 104pc of pre-Covid 19 pandemic capacity in the first half of 2024-25. Its international capacity guidance, excluding Jetstar Asia, is expected to rise by about 16pc from the previous year to achieve 102pc of pre-Covid levels in the first half.

The group's passenger carrying capacity, measured by available seat kilometres (ASKs), was up on a year earlier by 21pc to 141mn ASK by 2023-24, although this was still about 93pc of pre-Covid levels.

Qantas has agreements to offtake SAF, renewing its agreement to buy SAF for flights out of London Heathrow and doubling the size of its corporate customer SAF programme in 2023-24.

But the group saw its 2023-24 profit fall, with underlying profit before tax down by 16pc on the previous year to A$2.08bn.

By Cara Wong