domestic trends

A broker report today gives some interesting insights in to the current domestic scene;

Operating statistics released by QAN for the month of September 2014 point to some improvement in Domestic passenger numbers but we note this growth came from Jetstar and Qantaslink. In contrast, the traditional QAN business recorded a 3.7% decline in passenger numbers during the month.

VAH’s recent September quarter operating statistics pointed to similar trends with Tiger the only domestic segment to record positive passenger growth during the quarter. This suggests to us that Domestic Leisure remains weak with passengers moving away from traditional full and restricted economy offerings to discount fares assisted by the material increase in capacity within Jetstar.

This points to a changing customer profile within the Domestic Aviation landscape – one that is now increasingly susceptible to small changes in consumer sentiment.

Given Qantas's penchant for dumping capacity on its rival's routes, and carrying passengers for little if any profit, it seems that a balanced market is yet to come.