The Qantas Airways Limited (ASX: QAN) share price is ascending this week amid rising demand for travel.
Qantas shares are currently trading at $5.19, a 2.37% gain for the day. For comparison, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is up 1.44%.
Let's take a look at what might be sending the Qantas share price to the skies.
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Travel demand surges
Qantas shares have taken off since the start of the week, jumping 2.57% since market close on Friday. And on Sunday, the airline's CEO Alan Joyce provided hope travel demand is returning.
Speaking to Sky Business Weekend, Joyce predicted domestic flight schedules would recover to pre-COVID-19 levels by the middle of the year. He said:
I don't think there is anything that is going to derail the domestic recovery and even the international recovery. We are seeing huge demand coming in, particularly leisure. We are seeing corporate, the SME market coming back.
Qantas reported its underlying loss had increased by 26.6% in its H1 FY22 results last week, while revenue surged 31.9% on the previous corresponding half. The Qantas share price fell more than 5% on the day the results were announced.
As my Foolish colleague Bernd reported, COVID-19 travel restrictions continued to impact Qantas operations. However, the airline is confident its recovery program can deliver $900 million in annualised cost benefits by the end of FY22.
Ukraine-Russia crisis
Meanwhile, Qantas has also altered its Darwin to London flight path to avoid flying over the northern part of Russia. This flights will now travel over the middle east and southern Europe, increasing the flight time by one hour.
Joyce told Sky when international borders open in different countries Qantas sees a "boom", but with Ukraine overlaid on it, "there is a few moving parts". He said:
We don't know how long it's going to last, or how big it could be, or whether its going to be a fizzle. You know, the market I think, is uncertain about how this is going to play out.
The bigger consequence for us is fuel price. Fuel price could go over $100, it's getting close to that, that has a big impact on airlines in particular, it's a big input cost. We are very well hedged.
Qantas share price
The Qantas share price has ascended 3.80% in the past 52 weeks, while it is up 3.59% year to date. Qantas shares have also jumped 8.6% over the past month.
For perspective, the benchmark ASX index has returned around 5% over the past year.
The company has a market capitalisation of about $9.7 billion
