Traffic and capacity figures released by Qantas for September show that Qantas domestic pulled 1.2% of its seats out of the market and carried 4.9%, or 217, fewer passengers than in September last year.

Qantas international's numbers also dropped off as the Australian dollar started its slide. It carried 149 fewer passengers in September, down 7.2%, with 3.4% fewer seats offered.

Qantas' budget offshoot Jetstar, however, is putting more seats into the domestic and international markets, and substantially increasing revenue.

Jetstar carried 224 more domestic passengers, up 12.1% from September last year as it increased capacity by 15.8%.

As it expands its international operations, Jetstar put on 23.4% more seats, and carried 125 more passengers, than in September last year, an increase of 36.5%.

Outgoing Qantas chief executive Geoff Dixon flagged the decline in traffic last month but could only guess as to the reasons for the slump.

"What we are seeing, though, is that Jetstar is holding up well," he said. "We don't know if people are trading down or if it is to do with their business model."

The executive chairman of the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation, Peter Harbison, said passengers might be looking for cheaper seats but Qantas' tarnished safety reputation was not helping.

"It is fairly reasonable to assume that people would be opting for a cheaper price, particularly on any flight under about eight hours," he said. "The safety incidents, plus the delays, I have no doubt are having an impact."

Federal Government figures show Qantas' on-time departures in September were the worst for any of the major domestic carriers, while its on-time arrivals were the second-lowest behind Virgin Blue.

by Matthew Murphy

SOURCE | The Age