QANTAS could ramp up to half its normal flying capacity in July, chief executive Alan Joyce says.
The forecast was dependent on states easing their coronavirus border restrictions, which was a “possibility” the airline was planning for.
“We don’t think we’ll go back to 100 per cent honestly in July, but we have the capability to easily add 40 to 50 per cent of the capacity that we had before COVID-19 in that month and then a ramp up even further every other month,” Mr Joyce said this week.
Before travel restrictions were implemented, Qantas was flying more than 25 flights per week from Mildura Airport to Melbourne.
It was also planning to launch a Mildura to Sydney service at the end of March, which was put on hold.
Qantas on Tuesday announced a range of safety measures aimed at giving “peace of mind” to passengers.
From June 12, Qantas will start to introduce contactless check-in, providing masks for all passengers, hand sanitising stations and enhanced aircraft cleaning.
The airline said the air conditioning systems of all Qantas and Jetstar aircraft were already fitted with hospital-grade HEPA filters, which it said removed 99.9 per cent of all particles, including viruses.
“From the early rescue flights we operated right into Wuhan and then more recently bringing Australians back from places like the US and Europe, we have a lot of experience at creating a safe cabin environment for passengers and crew,” Mr Joyce said.
Virgin Australia, which ran one daily flight from Mildura to Melbourne pre-coronavirus but is now in voluntary administration, reportedly has four potential bidders seriously investigating whether to buy the airline.
Rex this week defended its share of government assistance after it was found the regional carrier was given more Federal Government grants during the COVID-19 crisis than Qantas and Virgin combined.
“The funding has been specially crafted to assist regional airlines and we are not the only regional airline … so I don’t think there’s any favouritism for us,” Rex executive chairman Lim Kim Hai told CNBC.
Rex has been conducting two flights per week between Mildura and Melbourne with government assistance.
