Qantas reports of flying figures on heels of higher passenger traffic
Figures were flying high for Qantas Airways Ltd (ASX: QAN) as the company reported on Thursday that travellers using the airline's services have risen by 8.5 percent in August though the company's revenue seat factor has retreated a bit by 0.9 percent to 79.6 percent for the year.
The company said that the riding public appeared to have chalked up more travelling mileage as it revealed that revenue passenger kilometres soared by up to 6.8 percent in the same month while the carrier's seat availability kilometres jumped by 7.7 percent during the similar period.
Qantas said that passenger traffic saw an influx in the month of August as up to 7.8 percent more travellers flew in the month as compared to results registered by the company in the previous corresponding period.
The airline said that from the year leading to the end of August this year, its total domestic earnings registered spikes of 1.3 percent as against to the figures posted from the prior corresponding year.
Qantas' international services, on the other hand, yielded better results as it saw jumps of up to 12.1 percent in the year to end of June 2010 as pitted with numbers attained in the previous corresponding period.
Anticipating upward spiralling of global fuel prices, Qantas sought to cushion the projected shocks by hedging some 58 percent of the companies' fuel requirements for the remaining months of fiscal 2011 at $US87.80 per barrel, which is the company's worst-case oil price level.
Also, Qantas said that it has hedged 36 percent of its remaining foreign exchange exposure in the same fiscal year at AUD/USD rate of 0.7800, including option premium, which is the company's buffer against projected currency volatility.