Qantas Airways travel tips

Australia’s Qantas Airways Ltd raised its first-half pre-tax profit outlook on Wednesday on strong travel demand, with limits on international capacity helping boost domestic tourism, sending its shares to more than a two-year high.

Australia’s Qantas Airways said its long-serving CEO would bring forward his retirement amid a publicity firestorm over an accusation of illegal ticket sales, signaling what the flagship carrier hopes is the end of a tumultuous period.

Chinese airlines will be the early winners of the country’s international reopening, analysts say, having kept most widebody planes and staff ready while foreign carriers struggle with capacity constraints after previous border openings.

Bain Capital said on Monday it is looking to relist airline Virgin Australia, in a move that would come as the domestic aviation market bounces back strongly from pandemic lows.

Good morning from Skift. It’s Wednesday, May 3. Here’s what you need to know about the business of travel today.

Top U.S. lawmakers have urged the Biden administration to address the visa wait time issue in India on a priority basis. Visa delays are the single biggest impediment to exponential growth in travel between the U.S. and India. The U.S. Consulate’s all-hands-on-deck approach — such as bringing processing staff in on weekends, making embassies available to Indian nationals in other countries and hiring more staff — has reduced the wait times in the country by 50 percent, from an average of 669 days in mid-March to 337 days in early April, according to the U.S. Travel Association. 

Australia’s Qantas Airways Ltd posted a significant turnaround in its profit on Thursday, underpinned by a continued strong rebound in travel demand, and announced a share buyback of A$500 million.