Qantas Airways Ltd (ASX: QAN) shares soared back onto passive income investors' radars in 2025.
That was when we saw the return of the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) airline's coveted dividends.
As you may recall, Qantas suspended its twice-yearly dividend payouts at the start of 2020. This followed the outbreak of the global pandemic and the ensuing travel bans, which saw aircraft temporarily mothballed the world over.
But with air travel back in full swing, Qantas is again paying fully-franked dividends.
We'll look at just how many Qantas shares you'd need to buy today to bring in $10,000 a year in passive income below.
But first, a few important reminders.
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Trailing yields and diversifying your passive income portfolio
When you're trying to gauge the upcoming passive income potential of ASX 200 dividend stocks like Qantas, you can look at forecast yields or trailing yields.
Forecast yields are simply analysts' best guesses at a company's upcoming profitability. Those guesses may, or may not, prove out.
Trailing yields, on the other hand, are backward-looking. While we'll employ trailing yields below, the future passive income payouts from Qantas shares may be higher or lower depending on a range of macroeconomic and company-specific factors.
For Qantas, that includes future travel demand, which I expect will remain strong. Fuel costs also have a big impact on any airline's profitability. While fuel costs have surged recently amid the Middle East conflict, global oil prices could potentially come down just as quickly once the conflict winds down and vital shipping routes reopen.
The second thing to bear in mind is that a properly diversified income portfolio will contain more than just a single ASX dividend stock. To reduce the risk of your income stream taking a big hit, you should consider investing in 10 to 20 ASX dividend stocks, ideally across various sectors and geographic locations.
Now, back to Qantas…
Getting aboard Qantas shares for $10,000 a year in passive income
Qantas paid eligible stockholders a final fully-franked dividend of 26.4 cents a share on 15 October.
The ASX 200 airline will pay a fully-franked interim dividend of 19.8 cents a share on 15 April. It's a bit too late to grab that latest passive income payout, however, with Qantas having traded ex-dividend on Tuesday, 10 March.
That works out to a full-year payout of 46.2 cents a share.
Meaning that you'd need to buy 21,645 shares today (based on the trailing yield) to secure that $10,000 a year in passive income, with potential tax benefits from those franking credits.
How much would that cost?
During the Thursday lunch hour, Qantas shares are down 0.6% at $8.77. So, you'd need to invest $189,827 in the ASX 200 airline.
Qantas trades on a fully-franked trailing dividend yield of 5.3%.
