16 Feb 2012

Air New Zealand to add more flights to LA

5:47 pm on 16 February 2012

Air New Zealand says it plans to add more flights between Auckland and Los Angeles after Qantas announced it is dropping its service on the route.

From May 2012 the airline is dropping its Auckland to Los Angeles and Singapore to Mumbai routes in addition to previously announced cuts to its Hong Kong to London and Bangkok to London routes in March.

In response to the announcement Air New Zealand says it plans to add further capacity on the Auckland to Los Angeles route; it says it has no plans to raise its fares.

500 jobs go at Qantas

Qantas is axing 500 jobs and reviewing hundreds more positions. Profit for the six months to the end of December, was down 83% to $A42 million. The airline axed 1000 jobs last year.

The airline on Thursday reported it made $A42 million in the six months to the end of December, down 83% on the $A241 million it made a year earlier.

Chief executive Alan Joyce says the fall was due to industrial action that led him to briefly ground the airline's entire fleet last year.

Announcing a five-year plan to make the airline more globally competitive, Mr Joyce said there are no plans to move operations offshore but heavy maintenance activities in Australia need to be consolidated in Sydney.

The ABC reports the airline axed 1000 jobs last year.

Qantas says the impact of lost passenger revenues and forward bookings prior to the grounding cost the airline $A95 million, while the direct impact of the grounding cost $A70 million.

Shareholders again will not receive a dividend. The ABC reports their last dividend was paid in mid-2009.