"Quite the opposite," he said. "If the economic crisis does have a major impact on travel, the only way you'll be able to encourage people is to have discounts.
"I don't believe any economic crisis would result in a lessening of discount fares. That genie is out of the bottle now."
Mr Dixon was speaking at Melbourne Airport as Qantas's first A380 Superjumbo commercial flight left for Los Angeles.
He said the $300 million jet was the first of 20 double-decker Airbus giants that would join the Qantas fleet.
The flight left at 11.15am with about 380 people on board.
At capacity, the A380 will carry 450 passengers on daily flights to Los Angeles from the end of next year.
The successful launch of the luxury giant aircraft was rare good news for the troubled airline, which has suffered a string of recent mishaps.
Among the most serious was the plunge of an Airbus A330-300 over Western Australia this month, injuring about 70 people. In July an oxygen tank exploded mid-air, leaving a gaping hole in the side of a Melbourne-bound 747.
Mr Dixon said he had no concerns about the safety of the company's new flagship.
The first of Qantas's A380s is named Nancy-Bird Walton after the 92-year-old Australian aviation pioneer.
SOURCE | Herald Sun
