Qantas CEO more optimistic on fuel with supplies to mid-June

Published Tue, May 5, 2026 · 03:26 PM

QANTAS Airways chief executive officer Vanessa Hudson said she has turned more upbeat about jet fuel availability, a fresh sign of optimism among aviation leaders as the Iran war upends energy markets. 

Speaking at the Macquarie Australia Conference in Sydney on Tuesday, Hudson said Qantas has fuel commitments that stretch out to the middle of June. Suppliers have managed to diversify their fuel sources and are bringing in more from the Americas, she added. 

“We’re becoming more optimistic on fuel supply,” she said.

Hudson struck a positive tone at the conference, one of Australia’s biggest gatherings of institutional investors and equity analysts, even as the US and Iran struggle to preserve a ceasefire. She said customers were prioritising air travel, and that Qantas has no plans to defer new plane deliveries to preserve cash.

“We don’t believe that what is happening is permanent,” she said at a later media briefing. “There will be an end to this at some point.”

Shares in Qantas recovered some of their earlier losses, down 0.5 per cent at A$8.42 at 1.47 pm in Sydney.

Before the war, most of Qantas’ fuel came from countries such as Japan, China and South Korea, Hudson said at the briefing. Now there’s more from the US and Mexico, she said.

Fuel suppliers are committing to deliveries on a rolling six-week basis — just like they were before the conflict — she said.

Appetite for domestic and international air travel is holding up, even though fares have climbed due to higher fuel costs, Hudson added. “We’re seeing strong demand right across our network,” she said. 

Still, even as Hudson turns more optimistic, the Middle East conflict — which started at the end of February — is having a prolonged impact on global aviation. The US and Iran exchanged fire in the Persian Gulf in a flareup of violence on Monday, sending oil prices surging.

Qantas said in April that its fuel bill for the fiscal second half ending June will be between A$3.1 billion (S$2.8 billion) to A$3.3 billion, up from an estimated A$2.5 billion, as the conflict sends energy prices soaring. The airline said at the same time that its fuel supplies stretched well into May.

More recently, Qantas said it would keep in place previously-announced changes to its international and domestic services to the end of September — including extra direct flights to Europe for passengers looking to bypass the Middle East. 

The prolonged cuts include fewer flights to New Zealand and a 5 per cent reduction in domestic services, mostly affecting Qantas and Jetstar flights between major Australian cities.

Smaller rival Virgin Australia is also likely to extend its own flight cuts into the third quarter of this year, Bloomberg reported last week, citing a person familiar with the matter. BLOOMBERG