Australia’s largest airlines, Qantas and Jetstar, have capitalised on ongoing flight demand and limited domestic competition, leading to strong financial results for the first half of 2024-25.
Qantas Group reported earnings of A$1.5 billion before tax for the first half of 2024-25, with $916 million coming from the domestic operations of Qantas and Jetstar.
“The high half-yearly earnings reported by Qantas Group reflect its dominance of the domestic airline sector, with Qantas and Jetstar accounting for over 60 per cent of passengers,” ACCC Commissioner Anna Brakey said.
Qantas Domestic, including Qantaslink, contributed the most to the group's earnings at $647 million. The group's dominance in corporate travel played a major role in their results as Qantas had an 80% share of the corporate travel market over the reporting period.
Jetstar also reported its largest earnings increase across the Qantas group. The airline increased by 53.7% from H1 2023-24 and 2024-25 to $269 million.
This comes as Jetstar becomes the only low-cost carrier in Australia after the exit of Tigerair in 2020 and the collapse of Bonza in April 2024.
“Jetstar has been able to capitalise on the continued absence of competitive pressure from another low-cost carrier in the domestic market to increase its market share and operating margin,” Brakey said.
Despite not publicly releasing half-year results, Virgin Australia CEO Jayne Hrdlicka said the airline had reached record first-half year profits in February following its post-administration restructuring under Bain Capital.
Virgin has increased its share of passengers to 34.4% in March 2025, an increase from last year’s 31.3% after the withdrawal of Rex.
