Tag: Joyce

Australia Back on Tourist Map as International Visitors Return

February 21, 2022 / WIL BALDWIN

Qantas flights from eight overseas destinations are touching down in Australia today, bringing the first international tourists in almost two years and an eagerly anticipated boost for the country’s tourism industry.

The Qantas Group will fly more than 14,000 passengers into Australia this week as quarantine and border barriers for international tourists come down.

QF12 from Los Angeles was the first to land at 6.20am and flights from other international destinations including Vancouver, Singapore and London will arrive into Sydney throughout the day. Jetstar’s first unrestricted international flight JQ18 will touch down in Melbourne from Phuket at 10.05am and QF70 from Delhi to Melbourne will arrive at 1.35pm.

Qantas Group CEO Alan Joyce said bookings had been strong since the Australian Government announced the country was opening to international visitors, and today’s arrivals will be the first of many.

Qantas restarted its international network for Australian citizens and visa holders on 1 November 2021, with a number of routes coming online since then. Sydney to Dallas recommenced flying on 16 February, and flights to other destinations are scheduled to relaunch in coming weeks including:

Melbourne to Honolulu (Jetstar) – From 1 March
Sydney to Honolulu (Jetstar) – From 3 March
Melbourne to Denpasar (Jetstar) – From 14 March
Sydney to Denpasar (Jetstar) – From 15 March
Brisbane to Singapore – From 27 March
Sydney to Manila – From 27 March
Sydney to Denpasar – From 28 March
Darwin to Dili – From 30 March
Brisbane to Los Angeles – From 1 April

QANTAS Says Buongiorno with Direct Flights Between Australia and Italy

December 14, 2021 / WIL BALDWIN

Qantas will reignite its love affair with Rome, adding direct flights from Australia to the eternal city from the middle of next year. From 22 June 2022, Qantas will operate the only direct service between Australia and continental Europe, flying three return Sydney-Perth-Rome flights per week to meet demand over the European holiday peak season.

The new flight will cut more than three hours off the current fastest travel time to Rome using the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, with cabins designed specifically for long haul travel.

Customers will be able to combine Qantas’ Rome flights with its double-daily direct flights between Australia and London, meaning they will be able to fly in and out of different cities on one return ticket through to October 2022.

The Rome service will also give customers another option for reaching onward destinations across the Mediterranean and southern Europe through Qantas’ network of partners.

Qantas Group CEO Alan Joyce said strong travel demand since borders re-opened had given the Flying Kangaroo confidence to explore new destinations as travelers look to make up for lost time.

The new route is expected to entice more visitors to Western Australia and Qantas will partner with Tourism Western Australia to boost inbound tourism from Europe into Perth and regional WA, as well as promote Perth as an ideal stopover for Australians travelling to Europe from the east coast.

Qantas recently started new flights from Sydney and Melbourne to Delhi and re-started a number of existing routes from Sydney and Melbourne to destinations including Los Angeles, London and Singapore.

Fares for the new Sydney-Perth-Rome flights go on sale today starting from $1785 return. Qantas will operate two Points Planes (bookable until 21 December 2021) for Frequent Flyers with every seat in every cabin available to book as a reward seat on the inaugural flight to Rome on 22 June and on the first flight departing Rome on 23 June.

The seasonal route will operate from 22 June until 6 October. Qantas will offer connections to 16 destinations in Europe including Athens, Barcelona, Frankfurt, Nice, Madrid and Paris and 15 destinations within Italy including Milan and Venice.

Qantas Announces Change to Executive Team

August 23, 2020 / WIL BALDWIN

The Qantas Group has today announced a reduction to its Group Management Committee as it continues to respond to the expanding COVID-19 crisis.

CEO of Qantas International, Tino La Spina, will leave the Group in light of what is likely to be the extended grounding of this part of the airline.

Responsibilities currently held by Mr La Spina will transfer to CEO of Qantas Domestic, Andrew David. Mr David’s role will change as a result, adding functional responsibility for Qantas International in addition to his existing responsibility for Qantas Domestic and Qantas Freight, reporting to Group CEO Alan Joyce. John Gissing (Group Executive of Associated Airlines and Services) will continue to have responsibility for regional carrier, QantasLink.

Mr Joyce said: “The COVID crisis is forcing us to rethink our business at every level. It’s increasingly clear that our international flights will be grounded until at least mid-2021 and it will take years for activity to return to what it was before. Under those circumstances, we’ve made the decision to consolidate the domestic and international business units under a single divisional CEO.

“Tino has done a superb job throughout his 14 years at Qantas. He’s a talented executive who brings his trademark enthusiasm to every challenge. I know I speak for the rest of the executive team and for the Board in thanking him sincerely for the huge contribution he has made, particularly as Deputy CFO and then CFO for most of that time.”

The change announced today will take effect from 1 September 2020.

As part of its response to the COVID crisis, the Qantas Group Management Committee took three months of zero pay in the last quarter of FY20 and is on reduced pay (65 per cent for the CEO and 85 per cent for other executives) until November 2020.

South Korea Budget Carrier Eastar Jet to Lay Off 700 Employees

April 2, 2020 / WIL BALDWIN

SEOUL, April 2 (Reuters) – South Korean budget airline Eastar Jet plans to lay off about 700 out of some 1,600 employees due to operational difficulties from the coronavirus outbreak, the carrier’s spokesman said on Thursday.

The spokesman declined comment on whether it was temporary layoffs, saying that he did not have the details.

The budget carrier is also in talks to reduce its fleet, currently consisting of 21 Boeing 737-800s, by 10 planes, the spokesman said.

(Reporting by Joyce Lee; Editing by Christian Schmollinger)

South Korea Pension Fund Backs Korean Air Chairman

March 26, 2020 / WIL BALDWIN

SEOUL, March 26 (Reuters) – South Korea’s National Pension Service (NPS) will vote for Hanjin Group chairman Walter Cho to keep his board seat in Korean Air’s parent firm Hanjin Kal at a shareholders’ meeting on Friday, the fund said.

In a statement on Thursday, NPS said it would also approve a board seat for telecoms industry veteran Kim Shin-bae, who was nominated by Cho’s sister and an activist fund that opposed Walter Cho.

Hanjin Kal’s annual general meeting is expected to be the culmination of an intense proxy fight to decide the group’s leader.

NPS, the world’s third-largest pension fund, had a stake of 2.9% stake in Hanjin Kal by the end of 2019.

(Reporting by Joyce Lee; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)

Australia Back on Tourist Map as International Visitors Return

QANTAS Says Buongiorno with Direct Flights Between Australia and Italy

Qantas Announces Change to Executive Team

South Korea Budget Carrier Eastar Jet to Lay Off 700 Employees

South Korea Pension Fund Backs Korean Air Chairman

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