Canberra:  Qantas, Australia's national airline, released its end-of-year financial statements on Thursday, indicating that the carrier is on track to emerge from debt in the second half of 2022 as demand for travel increases.

By December 2021, the corporation has a net debt of 5.65 billion Australian dollars (about 4 billion US dollars), with a further 1.1 billion Australian dollar (800 million US dollars) drop expected in the second half of 2021.

"This has been one of the worst half of the pandemic, with most states closing their borders and the majority of Australians being placed under quarantine. For several months, our capacity in the United States was approximately 30% of pre-COVID levels "Alan Joyce, CEO of Qantas Group, stated this.

However, noting Australia's high vaccination rate, the airline's CEO predicted that revenue will increase up in the second half of 2022.  "Australia today has one of the highest vaccination rates in the world, and it is continuing to rise. This distinguishes us from many other countries and puts us in a far better position to deal with variations and seasonal spikes "Joyce remarked. "Our ability to adjust rapidly to change has been one of our greatest assets throughout the pandemic. Our cost base has been dramatically lowered, enhancing our potential to recoup."

He stated that all Australian employees had been re-hired, and that domestic demand will be higher than pre-pandemic levels by the end of 2022.

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