Qantas Airways (OTCPK:QABSY) forecasts a loss of 1.1B Australian dollars (US$790M) from July through December 2021, a period CEO Alan Joyce called one of the worst periods during the entire pandemic.
There was a "significant drop in booking momentum due to the news of the Omicron variant and the additional quarantine restrictions imposed," Joyce told the Australian Stock Exchange in a notice Thursday. “The news of the Omicron variant had a clear impact on people’s confidence to book international trips in particular. But we haven’t seen large numbers of cancellations.”
Despite the majority of Australians being in lockdown, Joyce expects demand to pick up around Christmas and continue into next year.