The Australian carrier Qantas has announced its intention to make additional cuts in capacity as passenger demand is affected by the continuing global economic crisis.

Geoff Dixon, the CEO of the airline, has reported cuts that are equivalent to the grounding of 10 of its aircraft, in addition to capacity cuts that were announced earlier in the year.

“By taking this action now we will have the flexibility to switch growth back on as soon as market conditions improve. We are in unpredictable times and the international business market, in particular, has slowed”, Dixon noted.

According to the airline’s chief executive, slower demand will mean that Qantas expects pre-tax profits for the 2008-2009 financial year to be approximately $500 million.

“This figure is within the current range of analysts forecasts”, Dixon added.

The continuing economic downturn has had the greatest impact on the airline’s international operations, he indicated.

He continued by saying: “Qantas’ domestic operations, Jetstar, Qantas Frequent Flyer and Qantas Freight all continue to perform well. This highlights the value of the Group’s segmentation strategy. In particular, our two-brand strategy with Jetstar and Qantas is giving us the flexibility to better manage changes in the market”.

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www.qantas.com.au