New Airbus Jets Power Qantas HY1 Earnings |

The introduction of new aircraft has boosted Qantas Group’s financial performance in HY1 of the 2026 financial year. This was notably evident at low-cost subsidiary Jetstar, which improved its Adjusted EBIT by 12 percent. Of this, 60 percent can be attributed to the effects of more Airbus A320neos and A321LRs. Jetstar took delivery of two A321LRs and one A320neo over the past six months, bringing its fleet to 22 LRs and five A320neos. They represent 45 percent of the narrowbody fleet. The last five LRs will arrive this financial year, but the airline has another 12 A321XLRs on order. Thanks to an up-to-date cabin, the new aircraft are not only more appealing to customers but also 20 percent more efficient. And they allow for new destinations thanks to their bigger range, like Perth-Manila, Brisbane-Cebu, Gold Coast-Denpasar, and Newcastle-Denpasar, which were opened in HY1. Take AirInsight on a Test Flight 7 days full access — premium analysis and the complete data model library — for $1. No commitment. Start My Test Flight ? Jetstar estimates the new aircraft will deliver up to A$10 million in EBITDA benefits. The effect was evident in the HY1, said Group CEO Vanessa Hudson: "Around 60 percent of Jetstar's increase in profitability in the half was driven by its new aircraft, through a combination of growth, new network opportunities and the redeployment of existing aircraft onto other routes.” The earnings presentation identifies A$14 million in additional Underlying EBIT coming from replacement benefits from the new Airbus aircraft, A$13 million from growth, A$14 million from higher demand (six percent higher ASKs for Domestic, 13 percent for International, 14 percent for New Zealand), and A$17 million from redeploying Boeing 787s on routes to Japan and Korea. This boosted the Underlying EBIT from A$439 million to A$492 million. Of this, A$372 million came from the Australian domestic network and A$120 million from the international network. Revenues grew eight percent to A$3.1 billion, and the operating margin reached 15.8 percent. [caption id="attachment_189541" align="aligncenter" width="580"] Jetstar Underlying EBIT HY1 FY26[/caption] Domestic The fleet renewal effect is also visible at Qantas, with four Airbus A220-300s joining QantasLink and two more A321XLRs for Qantas. The A220s burn 25 percent less fuel than the Boeing 717s they are replacing, open up longer routes like Brisbane-Wellington, and will eventually deliver an A$9 million EBITDA benefit. Eight will join in FY26, another 10 in FY27. The A321XLRs, of which four have now been delivered, with two more this financial year and eight in FY27, should deliver an A$5 million EBITDA benefit when the fleet is complete in 2028. For now, entry into service and fleet transition costs resulted in A$60 million in additional costs, ten times last year's figure. This will grow to A$160 million for the full year. Strong growth and a 4 per cent increase in capacity led to a 5 per cent rise in domestic revenues to A$4.2 billion and an underlying EBIT increase of 4 per cent to A$676 million. The operating margin was static at 16.1 percent. The load factor was down by 1.8 points to 77.9 percent. Qantas and Jetstar produced a combined domestic Underlying EBIT of A$1.05 billion, up 14 percent year-over-year. Qantas has high expectations of the introduction of Economy Plus on the A220, -XLR, 737NG and A330, offering more legroom and priority access to overhead luggage bins. International Qantas International’s Underlying EBIT was down eight percent yoy to A$ 300 million, while the operating margin dropped 0.9 points to 6.2 percent. “This decline was largely due to cost escalation in Qantas International, including elevated engineering and industry costs, higher wages across some operational workgroups, and the commencement of training for new aircraft.” Revenues grew five percent to A$4.8 billion. Demand was strong, and capacity grew by five percent. Point-to-point long-haul with the Boeing 787-9s continues to perform strongly, with Premium RASKs up by nine percent over Economy, making them the most profitable aircraft in the fleet. This gives the airline full confidence that the introduction of the A350-1000ULR for Project Sunrise will deliver the promised A$400 million in incremental earnings. The first two of twelve aircraft are currently in advanced production in Toulouse and should be delivered this calendar year, pending certification. Entry into service is expected for mid-2027. Qantas brought back its tenth and final Airbus A380, but keeping the fleet flying and in top condition is costing the airline dearly. The deployment of most of the double-deckers to the US market helped the airline to grow capacity by 13 percent and restore capacity here. It is now adjusting capacity and replacing the A380 with a 787 on the Melbourne-Los Angeles route, while redeploying the A380 to Sydney-Singapore. The older A330s will soon get their refurbished Economy seats with new IFE systems, while the first 787s with the new Business product will enter service in March. More A330s will be inducted to support existing operations. Qantas’ consolidated Underlying pre-tax profit was up by A$71 million to A$1.46 billion, with the statutory profit almost flat at A$925 million. The operating cash flow was A$1.8 billion. Net debt stood at A$5.6 billion. The airline company returned A$450 million to shareholders in dividends and share buybacks. After some dreadful years, the net promoter score has been lifted by another five points for Qantas and four for Jetstar compared to last year.

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