High fuel prices, staffing crunch hit Aussie travel firms in H1

Web Travel

30/06/2022 01:10

** Aussie travel and leisure stocks set to end 1H 2022 on a
mixed note, even as economy recovered and most domestic travel
resumed after easing of COVID-19 curbs
    ** Most travel-related firms logged marginal rise as
compared with last year upon recovery of demand and after easing
of border curbs in April
    ** However, rise in airfare due to elevated oil prices
proved to be a concern for domestic airlines even as bookings
remained strong despite higher inflation  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2Y60AV
    ** Flagship carrier Qantas Airways Ltd  QAN.AX  set to lose
over 9% in 1H, with most of the losses coming in June
    ** Higher fuel prices and staffing issues prompted QAN
earlier this month to cut its domestic capacity through to March
2023  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2YA3CH
    ** Travel retailer Flight Centre Travel Group  FLT.AX 
firmed about 1.9% for H1 2022 vs a 6.3% drop in 1H 2021
    ** Webjet Ltd  WEB.AX  also gained 5.4% as opposed to a 3.2%
drop a year ago, whereas its peer Corporate Travel Management
Ltd  CTD.AX  fell 15% vs a gain of 22.8% in 1H 2021 
    ** Brokerage Citi earlier said although overall traffic
activity seems to be near pre-pandemic levels, profitability
seems to be lagging
    ** "Over the coming months, COVID-19 might not be the
primary factor shaping the travel industry and related stocks,"
Kunal Sawhney, CEO of Kalkine Group said


 (Reporting by Archishma Iyer)
 ((Archishma.Iyer@thomsonreuters.com;))