Despite an outbreak of the Delta variant and nationwide lockdowns, the Qantas Airways Limited (ASX: QAN) share price has flourished in the last year.
In the past 52-weeks, shares in the airliner have soared more than 31%.
By comparison, the broader S&P/ASX200 (ASX: XJO) Index has only climbed 26.5% higher in the same period.
Let's take a look at why the Qantas share price has beaten the ASX 200.
Qantas share price rallies into reporting season
Much of the gains in the Qantas share price have been realised in the last week.
Since last Monday, shares in the airliner rallied more than 19% as the company approached its reporting date.
In addition, the Qantas share price also received a boost from its incentive scheme to get more Australians vaccinated.
As part of the program, the airliner aims to reward Australian's who get the COVID-19 vaccine with bonus points, credits and travel vouchers.
The incentive follows the company's decision to mandate that Qantas employees receive the vaccine by 15 November 2021.
How did Qantas perform in FY21?
Qantas released its full-year results for FY21 late last week.
The airliner's report was headlined by a statutory loss before tax of $2.35 billion.
Other highlights from Qantas' full-year results included;
- $12 billion revenue impact from the COVID-19 crisis in FY21.
- Underlying earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) was $410 million. That's in line with Qantas' guidance.
- $5.93 billion of revenue.
- Operating cash flows came to an outflow of $386 million.
The airliners management cited the difficult domestic and international conditions for the dire result.
Qantas noted that in FY21, only 30 days were free of any state domestic border restrictions.
The outlook for Qantas
The Qantas share price has continued its bullish price action heading into this week.
Shares in the airliner have been buoyed by plans to potentially resume international travel by December of 2021.
In line with the National Cabinet's plan, Qantas expects the resumption of the trans-Tasman travel bubble and other routes in the Asia Pacific.
Leading broker Citi has also painted an optimistic outlook on the Qantas share price.
Analysts recently retained their buy rating and increased their price target on the airliners shares.
Notwithstanding a disappointing FY21, analysts noted that guidance for FY21 implies market share gains.
The broker acknowledged that despite uncertainty around COVID-19, Qantas is well placed to meet pent-up demand.
At the time of writing, the Qantas share price is trading 6% for the year at $5.11.
