Qantas continues to romp. In the first half of 2018, the flying kangaroo posted a 9% profit margin—one point better than in the same period last year. And with that, Qantas is working on its fourth consecutive calendar year with double-digit margins. Despite more exposure to rising fuel prices, Air New Zealand still mostly kept […]
Airline Weekly Lounge Episode 92: Kiwis and Kangaroos
Life is good in Australasia—especially if you’re Qantas or Air New Zealand. Both carriers are enjoying a bit of a golden age that stems from good management and some macro tailwinds. Meanwhile, Virgin Australia, seemingly unable to catch those tailwinds, drifted toward a disheartening 2% operating profit margin in 2017. Scandinavia’s SAS, meanwhile, had a […]
Airline Weekly Lounge Episode 80: Dismay at Cathay
Cathay Pacific has seen all its oxygen sucked out of the room by the hyper growth of the Chinese carriers. Is there anything to be done? Sometimes waiting is the best option. Australia has two major airlines with two very different stories to tell. While Qantas is enjoying a golden age, Virgin Australia is a […]
The Great Fall of China: Demand still growing fast, but overcapacity, pricier fuel sink Q2 profits for Chinese airlines
In a new book about China, Harvard professor Graham Allison provides a list of astonishing facts about the country’s economic development. In 1980, its gross domestic product was less than $300 billion, with 90 out of every 100 citizens living on less than $2 per day. By 2015, GDP was $11 trillion, second only to […]
Airline Weekly Lounge Episode 54: Down Under Wonder
Qantas reported a best-ever annual result. Not bad for a company that’s 95 years old. And not bad for a company that was barely breaking even just a few years ago. Virgin Australia, on the other hand, with a 2% operating margin, isn’t breaking any records—well, any records you’d want to break, that is. And […]