It now appears the well known Australian airline Qantas remains ever so optimistic about their future. This optimism comes despite reporting a fall in profits for financial 2010. The airline, which is the largest in all of Australia, reported a new profit of AU$112 million for the 12 months to June. This amount is down 4.3 percent from a year earlier.

The volcanic ash cloud, which saw a lot of air travel over Europe close down earlier this year, was most likely to blame for this fall in profits. However, other things like the global recession and lower ticket prices did not help either. Revenue for the airline also fell by 5.7 percent to just AU$13.8 billion.

The chief executive of Qantas, Alan Joyce, said that the airline’s international business improved. He said that this came despite the impact of the Icelandic volcano on international operations. He continued that the Icelandic ash disruption resulted in a loss of revenue and additional costs of some AU$46 million. Qantas expects profits for the next six months to be materially stronger than a year earlier. This is due to the fact that demand for leisure travel and premium class seats continue to recover.

Mr Joyce went on to say that Qantas is one of the few airlines to record successive full year profits and continues to hold an investment grade credit rating. Thus, the overall strength and diversity of the company’s operations is easy to see. The company has an ongoing focus on cost and prudent financial management. This will continue to drive their business.

Australia was just one of a small number of major economies which avoided falling into recession during the global downturn. Thus, Qantas and other companies in Australia find themselves in a good position as the world starts to return to profitability.