The Qantas Airways Limited (ASX: QAN) share price is taking off amid a positive day for travel shares on the ASX.
Qantas shares are currently swapping hands at $5.06, a 2.43% gain. In comparison, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is ahead 1.04% at the time of writing.
Let's take a look at what is happening at Qantas.
International tour
Qantas CEO Alan Joyce and chief financial officer Vanessa Hudson are embarking on an investor tour overseas, The Australian reported.
The executives are holding investor conversations in Los Angeles, New York, and London. This includes presenting at a JP Morgan Industrials conference in New York this week. It's reported Qantas is hoping to drive up overseas interest in the airline, given that foreign ownership has dropped to 21%.
Qantas recently signed a new sustainable fuel deal to power flights from San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Australia. The airline will use almost 20 million litres of biofuels each year from 2025.
The Qantas share price is not the only ASX travel share on the rise today. Webjet Ltd (ASX: WEB) is 2.09% higher, Flight Centre Travel Group Ltd (ASX: FLT) is up 0.91% while Corporate Travel Management Ltd (ASX: CTD) is currently trading 3.91% higher.
In more positive news for ASX travel companies, the New Zealand government announced today it will be bringing forward the opening of the international border to Australian tourists to 12 April.
And in another show of optimism, Qantas has recently released its fourth A380 from its storage site in the Californian desert. The jumbo planes have been upgraded to include more premium seats, Traveller reported.
As my Foolish colleague Sebastian reported on Monday, Firetrail analyst Sean Drennan believes Qantas shares are a buy. Drennan said:
As the dominant domestic airline, we are confident that Qantas will not only survive the pandemic, but emerge in a much stronger competitive position… There is a huge amount of pent-up demand.
Qantas share price recap
The Qantas share price has dropped more than 7% in the past year but is up 1% year to date.
In the past week, the airline's shares have gained around 12%.
Qantas has a market capitalisation of about $9.6 billion based on its current share price.
