The Qantas Airways Limited (ASX: QAN) share price is marching higher today. The airline is up 0.99%, outpacing the 0.46% gains posted by the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) at this same time.
Qantas shares closed yesterday at $5.05 and are currently trading for $5.10.
That gives the flying kangaroo a market cap north of $9.5 billion.
So is the Qantas share price approaching its all-time highs?
Not yet!
The highest ever Qantas share price
2019 was a good year for Qantas shareholders.
The airline paid an interim and final dividend, totalling 25 cents, equating to a yield of 3.5% or more, depending on when you'd bought shares. It was also the last year the COVID-19-battered company paid any dividends.
The year was going so well that by 19 December 2019 the Qantas share price had gained more than 29% in the calendar year.
On that date, Qantas shares closed at $7.40, the highest closing price ever.
Qantas achieved that milestone despite rising fuel costs at the time. The record also came shortly after the airline announced its plans to be net carbon neutral by 2050.
What happened next?
Unless you've recently returned from Mars, you'll likely know what happened soon thereafter.
The Qantas share price slipped heading into early 2020 but remained well above its early 2019 levels, right up until 21 February.
On that date, the great pandemic fuelled sell-off sent almost every ASX share tumbling for the next four weeks. ASX travel shares really got the stuffing knocked out of them as international and domestic borders slammed shut.
By 20 March, Qantas shares had cratered to $2.36, down a gut-wrenching 68% from their 19 December 2019 all-time highs.
Then on 20 March 2020, as you're also likely aware, investors woke up to the reality that the fire sale had been overdone. And Qantas rallied alongside most ASX 200 shares.
The current Qantas share price of $5.10 may still be down 31% from its record closing high. But shares have gained 116% since the 20 March 2020 lows.
We hope shareholders remained seated with their seatbelts securely fastened.
