Qantas CEO says airline has ’pretty good’ fuel hedging

Qantas Airways CEO Vanessa Hudson said on Tuesday that the airline had "pretty good" fuel hedging in place but the spike in oil prices amid the conflict between the U.S., Israel and Iran was significant for the aviation industry.



"We've got pretty good hedging in place, but these are pretty significant impacts on aviation and we're just continuing to watch how it all unfolds," she said at the Australian Financial Review's business summit as the airline's shares fell for a second day, trading as much as 3.9% lower.



Major Gulf hubs, including the world's busiest international airport Dubai, which usually handles over 1,000 flights a day, remained closed for a fourth day due to the conflict. That has left tens of thousands of passengers stranded as aviation faced its biggest test since the COVID-19 pandemic.



Qantas does not use airports in the Middle East so was not directly affected by flight cancellations as the conflict in the region prompted governments to close airspace, but it was helping communicate with passengers of partner airline Emirates who were trying to travel to or from the region, Hudson said.