The first Sydney to Melbourne flight took place today, after what felt like an eternity.
It landed in Melbourne at 7:25am local time after a four-month border closure.
However small, the news saw the Qantas Airways Ltd [ASX:QAN] share price move up 1.9% to trade at $5.37 at the time of writing.
Source: Optuma
Qantas and 2020
Airlines around the world were decimated by the crisis; Air France and Lufthansa both took government bailouts.
While Virgin Australia found itself in the hands of administrators.
Some cut jobs, while others simply went bankrupt.
Qantas managed to survive COVID-19 by raising $1.5 billion and putting in place a strong recovery plan.
Back in June, this is what they put in place:
- ‘Costs reduced by $15 billion during three-year period of lower activity; $1 billion in ongoing cost savings per annum from FY23.
- ‘Around 100 aircraft to be grounded for up to 12 months; some for longer.
- ‘Job losses and extended stand downs to manage long period of reduced flying (especially internationally).
- ‘Equity raising of up to $1.9 billion to accelerate recovery and position for new opportunities.’
The NSW-Victorian border opened at 12:01am Monday, 23 November, and is a welcome change for the airline.
What’s next for the Qantas share price?
24 flights are due to land in Sydney today, while 23 will depart for Melbourne.
Travellers will still be required to wear face masks and there is hand sanitiser aplenty.
But the most important thing is that the planes are back in the air.
Source: Optuma
In the charts, news of aircraft flying again is giving the price a boost to the upside.
The QAN share price is hovering around the level of $5.23, it may move sideways here as it’s only a small amount of flights back in the air.
Should it move up again, then the level of $6.20 may become the focus. This may take time.
If it slips back it may find support at $4.77.
Qantas did well to navigate the pandemic this year and looks to be recovering. It will be interesting to see how the recovery of the company unfolds in the coming months and might be worth putting on a watch list.
Whether it’s Qantas or any other ‘recovery stock’, it pays to know how to read a chart.
Get a unique guide to technical analysis from our chart wizard, Murray Dawes, right here.
It’s a great way to begin thinking about the secret signals embedded in a chart’s data.
Regards,
Carl Wittkopp,
For Money Morning
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