Qantas cuts flights as fuel costs surge

0:00Qantas and Jetstar are cutting more flights as fuel costs begin to hurt the airline's financial performance. Flights to India and New Zealand are now on the chopping block, but there are surprise deals to be found on some overseas trips. The airline fuel crisis is biting harder and longer than expected, Qantas announcing further cuts to schedules across its brand and Jetstar. So the aviation industry at a whole is still adapting to the long-term effects of this Middle East conflict. Qantas will suspend its Sydney Bengaluru service from August, and trim 4% of flights to New Zealand on Qantas and Jetstar, and already announced 5% cutting capacity on domestic services will extend from July into at least September. But Europe flights are so full, Qantas is keeping its seasonal service to Rome. Long-haul flights bring in more revenue than domestic sectors, generally, and on those long-haul sectors we do see premium passengers uptake those business class and first class

1:01seats more. If there's an upside to this disruption, it's reward seats. Middle Eastern carriers are offering more than they usually would at this time of year. It might be a bargain, yes, but there's also the risk. Emirates, some of the Middle Eastern carriers have got a lot of seats available, and we wouldn't really expect to see any in shoulder or peak season. Cut our boosts services to Sydney Melbourne and Perth today from 5 to 7 flights per week, but with smaller aircraft. In Europe, it's also dicey. Lufthansa cancelling 20,000 flights across its summer schedule to save on fuel. The fuel bill at Qantas is expected to grow as we take into a new financial year and new fuel contracts. Blake Johnson 7 News.