The Qantas Airways Limited (ASX: QAN) share price has returned to form on Thursday.
In afternoon trade, the airline operator's shares are up 3% to $5.38.
Why are its shares lifting off?
Investors appear to have been bidding the Qantas share price higher today following the release of data from the Bureau of Infrastructure and Transport Research Economics (BITRE).
That data shows that the cheapest domestic airfares have doubled since January following another sizeable jump in September.
There have also been sizeable increases in business and restricted domestic fares according to BITRE, which all bodes well for Qantas' margins.
Where next for its Qantas share price?
The good news for shareholders is that brokers are overwhelmingly positive on the prospects of the Qantas share price.
For example, according to a note out of Macquarie, its analysts have an outperform rating and $7.05 price target on the company's shares. Based on the current Qantas share price, this implies potential upside of 31% for investors over the next 12 months.
The team at JP Morgan are even more positive on the airline. Earlier this week, the broker retained its overweight rating and lifted its price target to $7.40. This suggests even greater upside of 38% for investors.
JP Morgan notes that the company's shares are trading at a sizeable discount to US airline stocks. However, it doesn't believe this should be the case given its superior position in the domestic market.
Are there any bears?
One bearish broker that I'm aware of is Citi. Its analysts currently have a sell rating and $4.72 price target on the company's shares. The broker has concerns over the company's earnings targets given the current environment. It is explained:
How long will consumers remain inelastic? On an absolute level we think QAN guiding to essentially FY19 levels of EBITDA, despite the current environment, indicates the company is being managed well for shareholders. However on a relative basis, we see this as a high hurdle and the potential risk/reward skewed to the downside with the consumer potentially softening. Subsequently we retain our cautious view, and look for signs of RASK holding up through 2H23 before getting more positive.
