Australia's airline Qantas Airways has confirmed its pre-orders for a good 50 Airbus aircraft.
Among other things, the airline, which is currently being heavily criticized by its guests, wants to fly extreme long-haul routes from the fifth continent to Europe and America.
"The tyranny of distance will finally be overcome," said Qantas CEO Alan Joyce on Monday morning in Sydney.
As part of their "Project Sunrise", the Australians now want to tackle their 19-hour flights from Sydney to London, which were already planned before Corona.
They were postponed again by a year and are now planned for 2025.
Qantas will buy a dozen A350-1000s and 20 each of the A220s and A321XLR.
The A350s are powered by Rolls-Royce Trent engines, while the other aircraft are powered by competitor Pratt & Whitney jets in the air.
"The A320 and 321 will become the backbone of our domestic fleet," said Joyce.
The purchases are possible because the Australians had prescribed a very strict austerity plan, benefited from taxpayer help and are now feeling very strong demand from their customers.
Qantas shares gained a further 5 percent in trading in Sydney on Monday after the airline said it would reduce its net debt to 4 from A$6.4 billion at the height of border closures last year. 5 billion cut in April.
The level of debt has thus reached the level before the Corona crisis.
By the end of June, the debt should have been reduced to around 4.1 billion Australian dollars and thus have reached the bottom of the target corridor.
The chaotic scenes at the airports in Australia in recent weeks illustrated the need to catch up.
While the market had expected operating profit of around AUD 200 million for the half-year, Qantas said on Monday earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) would reach around AUD 500 million.
Analysts are expecting a first annual surplus in the coming financial year (June 30).
Since the beginning of March, the shares have gained a good 30 percent in value.