The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) climbed 2.3% in July, but Qantas Airways Ltd (ASX: QAN) shares lost altitude.
Shares in the ASX 200 airline stock closed out June trading for $10.62. When the closing bell sounded on 31 July, shares were changing hands for $9.95.
This saw the Qantas share price down 6.3% for the month just past.
Here's why investors look to have been favouring their sell buttons.
Image source: Getty Images
Qantas shares slide on oil price rebound
The biggest headwind for Qantas shares in July was the near 26% rebound in global oil prices over the month.
On 1 July, Brent crude oil traded at US$71.55, according to Bloomberg data. By 31 July, the oil price had surged to US$90.12 per barrel.
Aside from the acquisition of new aircraft, fuel counts as the airline's top variable cost.
As you may recall on 26 February – days before the outbreak of the Middle East conflict – Qantas reported that it expected to spend around $2.5 billion on jet fuel in the second half of the 2026 financial year (H2 FY 2026).
But on 14 April, as global oil prices soared amid the closure of the vital Strait of Hormuz shipping lane, the ASX 200 airline increased it H2 jet fuel cost guidance to between $3.1 billion and $3.3 billion. Or potentially $800 million more on jet fuel costs than it had expected just six weeks earlier.
So, July's 26% oil price leap did not go unnoticed by the market.
What else happened with the ASX 200 airline stock in July?
Qantas shares were in the headlines in the latter week of July amid a historic milestone.
Specifically, the company's new Airbus A350-1000ULR made its maiden non-stop test flight from its production facility in Toulouse, France, to Melbourne. The aircraft then returned to France, again without touching down to refuel.
That's part of Qantas' Project Sunrise, which will offer non-stop flights between Sydney and London, commencing in October 2027. Qantas reports that passenger travel time will be reduced to less than 22 hours, saving up to four hours compared with the fastest one-stop services currently available.
The first commercial flights from Sydney to London are scheduled to take off in October 2027.
Qantas will also offer non-stop flights between Sydney and New York. The company said it will reveal the timing of those new services next year.
In the first day and a half of trade in August, Qantas shares have lifted 3.5%.
