Qantas v the WA government: here’s the latest

Key points

• Qantas CEO Alan Joyce has renewed his attack on Western Australia’s border closures
• WA borders will remain closed until future notice
• The Qantas share price finished in the green on Wednesday

Qantas Airways Limited (ASX: QAN) is in the news again today — or more so, its CEO.

After speaking out against Western Australia’s border stance on Friday, Qantas boss Alan Joyce has delivered another barb today.

Since Friday, the Qantas share price has jumped almost 10%, finishing today’s session at $5.52, up 0.55% on yesterday’s close.

So what exactly is going on with the travel-or-not-to-travel conundrum. Let’s take a look…

WA compared to North Korea

You may have heard by now that Australia is planning to open its borders to fully-vaccinated travellers from 21 February.

However, Western Australia has decided to not follow suit.

WA’s borders remain closed under the state’s coronavirus travel restrictions with its initial plans to reopen by 5 February on hold indefinitely.

Direct international travellers to WA will still need to quarantine for 14 days and provide PCR tests.

Last week, Qantas CEO Alan Joyce went on record, comparing WA’s border to the North-South Korean divide.

According to the ABC, Joyce said: “The fact that you can travel to London but you can’t travel to Perth, I think there is something fundamentally wrong with the federation.”

However, Western Australian premier Mark McGowan is sticking to his decision.

Joyce reaffirms comments on WA closure

Today, Joyce reiterated how WA’s decision to close itself off has affected the rest of the country.

According to the ABC, Joyce said, “[I]t feels like we have a part that is like North Korea, that is very restricted in parts of what the people can do in terms of travel.”

Just yesterday, Joyce announced Qantas would restart international flights “sooner or add capacity to those routes we are already flying”.

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), Australia hosted 9.5 million visitors in 2019, “the highest on record”. And, between 2018-19, tourism injected more than $60 billion into the economy.

Minister for Home Affairs Hon Karen Andrews MP said Australia’s opening would breathe life into the tourism industry which accounted for 660,000 jobs in the two years prior to the pandemic.

How is this affecting the Qantas share price?

In the last week, the Qantas share price has jumped by more than 12%.

In 6 months, it has increased by 22% — hitting a 52-week-low of $4.25 in September followed by a high of $5.85 in November.

The airline giant has a market capitalisation of $10.37 billion based on today’s share price.

The post Qantas v the WA government: here’s the latest appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

More reading

• ‘Open for business’: Qantas (ASX:QAN) share price lifts amid CEO’s renewed optimism
• Why are ASX travel shares Flight Centre (ASX:FLT), Qantas and Webjet lifting off today?
• Frequent flyer: what changed for the Qantas (ASX:QAN) share price today?
• Why is the Qantas (ASX:QAN) share price taking off this week?
• Are ASX travel shares finally emerging from the COVID storm?

Motley Fool contributor Alice de Bruin has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Bruce Jackson.

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