National carrier Qantas Airways saw its first-half profit for fiscal 2011 soaring by more than 400 percent and declared in a statement released on Thursday that it anticipates underlying earnings for the rest of the year to reach a materially higher level.

Qantas said that the company's net profit surged from the $58 million posted in 2009 to a whopping $241 million in the past six months leading to December 31, which it said was largely caused by the continuous turnaround propping up the airline industry following the declines seen during the global financial crisis in 2009.

The airline revealed that its revenue for the period increased by 10 percent to $7.59 billion while its underlying pre-tax profit moved up by 56 percent to $417 million in the last six months, which was a bit short from market's expectations of $430 million.

The latest report failed to specify any plans to issue interim dividends as Qantas reported that its main business operation saw its profit surging ahead by more than 100 percent from $60 million in the prior corresponding period to $165 million while subsidiary Jetstar posted profit jumps of 18 percent to $143 million.

Qantas' frequent flyer program delivered sterling numbers again in the period as it pushed up its earnings from the $157 million recorded in 2009 to the $189 million it amassed in the last six months ending in December 2010.

Company chief executive Alan Joyce said that the encouraging numbers reported today should pave the way for a much higher earning for the entire period of 2010/11 as he noted that some $80 million will be written off from the full year result due to last year's engine explosion issues.

Joyce said that the cost still excludes some $100 million for repairs on the airline's damaged Airbus A380s though he admitted that amount should be covered by insurance and damage payments from Rolls Royce, which is the maker of most of the engines that power Qantas' Airbus aircrafts.

Aside from the November engine troubles suffered by Qantas last year, the company said that it anticipates considerable losses from the twin disasters that had hit Queensland during the months of December and January, with the flooding disaster chipping away as much as $55 million from the company's second-half underlying earnings while cyclone Yasi is projected to cause losses of up to $15 million.