It seems that things just will not turn around for Qantas. Recently the airline was happy to report that it had seen growth in its passenger numbers. Despite this good news, the airline has also reported that it is still seeing a drop in yields despite this increase.

The reports do mark a nice increase in passenger numbers in May of 2010 when compared to the previous year. Passenger numbers across the airline rose by 5.6 percent over last year’s numbers. However, a revenue seat factor of 75 percent, or 2.7 percent lower from 2009, mean that yields remain low.

Yields across the airline, which does ignore foreign exchange impacts, were 11.4 percent lower in the year to May than the same period of 2009. Both Qantas and Jetstar saw international operations fall by 12.2 percent, while domestic yields were only 3.4 percent lower.

Qantas went on to say that increased competition continues in the low fare aviation market. The premium market, including the business travel market, continues to improve and is demonstrating positive effects for the airline.

Of course, these low numbers are not a shock to most airline experts. In fact, some say that these numbers are not nearly as bad as what they assumed that they would be. Thus, some people may see this as bad news while others consider it pretty positive. Really it’s all about how people view the picture as a whole.

Qantas, like many airlines, is doing all it can to keep its numbers up. Although it is getting people flying again, yields have still yet to increase and bounce back from the economic downturn.