Qantas Airways Ltd (ASX: QAN) shares had a remarkable year in 2024, with an increase of almost 70%.
But reports today have noted Qantas is grappling with flight delays caused by an unlikely source – the re-entry of space exploration company SpaceX's rockets from outer space.
SpaceX, founded by Elon Musk, has now completed 434 launches of its rocket systems since 2020.
The Qantas delays aren't technically price-sensitive, but shares in the airline have drifted lower on Tuesday, down 2.26% shortly before close.
Why are Qantas flights delayed?
Qantas shares showed a brilliant rebound as travel demand resumed after the Covid-19 pandemic finally loosened its grip on society.
But that doesn't mean the airline is immune to travel disruptions in key legs from time to time.
The latest for the flying kangaroo? The re-entry of Elon Musk's SpaceX rockets has forced Qantas to delay several flights between Sydney and Johannesburg.
As reported by The Australian, Qantas said it had to delay flights to Johannesburg on short notice from the US Government.
Over the past few weeks we've had to delay several flights between Johannesburg and Sydney due to advice received from the US Government regarding the re-entry of SpaceX rockets over an extensive area of the Southern Indian Ocean.
While we try to make any changes to our schedule in advance, the timing of recent launches have moved around at late notice which has meant we've had to delay some flights just prior to departure…
…We're in contact with SpaceX to see if they can refine the areas and time windows for the rocket re-entries to minimise future disruption to our passengers on the route.
You might wonder, "Why the Indian Ocean in the first place?"
It's due to remoteness. One point of interest in the ocean is Point Nemo. This is one of the most remote places on earth, according to Joey Leal of media firm Interstellar Gateway, speaking to The ABC.
Still, the re-entry events have disrupted Qantas flights and you could imagine some disgruntled passengers (wonder if they own any Qantas shares?)
Affected customers have experienced delays of up to six hours, per The Aus, with Qantas offering refunds for late check-out hotel accommodation.
Are Qantas shares impacted?
While flight delays are a curse one wouldn't wish on their worst enemy, it's highly unlikely anything has changed fundamentally for the company.
It would take far more delays on the company's global flight routes to create a meaningful disruption there.
Private Equity giant Bain & Company also projects air travel demand to be more than 110% of its baseline year in January 2020. In other words, people are flying again.
Added to that, brokers are generally bullish on Qantas shares.
The consensus of analyst estimates rates the stock a buy, according to CommSec data. One of those is Goldman Sachs.
Goldman, too, is projecting Qantas' "earnings capacity to outpace its pre-pandemic levels by more than 80%, with passenger traffic projected to be more than 100% of that era".
So it's unlikely today's flight delays will have any impact on this outlook in my view.
Foolish takeout
Qantas shares have extended gains from 2024 into the new year, and are up around 1.5% in 2025 so far.
If travel demand continues as projected, Qantas could be well positioned to benefit from this, given it is the largest airline in Aus.
But time will tell what happens from here.
