The travel sector was the place to be on the ASX today.
Newly announced plans around domestic Australian travel was the likely catalyst which resulted in strong gains from Flight Centre Travel Group Limited (ASX: FLT), up 7.48%, Webjet Limited (ASX: WEB), up 5.21% and Qantas Airways Limited (ASX: QAN), up 2.84%.
FLT share price chart
WEB share price chart
Reopening announced
Qantas and Jetstar have announced they will be ramping up flights within the country. This is likely in response to New South Wales’ recently announced roadmap out of Covid.
From October 25, these two airlines will in increasing the number of domestic flights within NSW. This will coincide when the state is excepted to reach vaccination levels of around 80%, which is also when travel will be permitted within the state.
Qantas has also brought forward the date for trips between NSW and Victoria to November 5, which was originally going to be recommenced in December.
At this stage, flights between Western Australia, Tasmania, Northern Territory and South Australia remain unchanged. It won’t be until February 1, 2020, that Qantas and Jetstar recommence flights from WA to Victoria and NSW that don’t require permits.
What about international flights?
Qantas has flagged that it’s still on track to gradually resume international flights from 18 December to destinations such as the US, London, Singapore and Japan.
Of course, the federal government will have the final say on the matter, but if the vaccination rollout continues on its current trajectory, it looks like we might be booking international flights by sometime around December.
Summary
The sentiment around the travel sector is definitely gaining some momentum. I’d imagine there will be a significant amount of pent-up demand from Australian’s who are keen to head overseas as soon as possible.
If I were to choose one ASX travel share, I’d probably look more into Webjet and its valuation in particular.
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