As most people have started to take note already, corporate travel is finally starting to make a rebound. If there is one person that has really taken notice of this, it’s the chief executive of Qantas, Alan Joyce. He is extremely optimistic about recovery in this once very lucrative international business market.

During the global recession, this sector of the airline industry eroded big time. This, of course, hurt the sales of many airlines including Qantas. The airline boss said that he was already noticing some signs of improvement in key international routes. Some yields have been rising as much as 12 percent in the last few months of this year.

Mr Joyce said that if it was not for the Icelandic volcanic disruption that cost the airline some $46 million in the last quarter of the year, the UK route would have gone back to profit as well. Overall, the company is very pleased with the improvement on the United States route. The Australia to LA service is getting close to breaking even again. This is a very big improvement from where it was previously.

Mr Joyce’s comments come just a few days after Qantas reported a 5.7 percent fall in full year profits to $116 million. Thus, for the second year running, the company opted to withhold its final dividend payment to investors.

Although Qantas’s shares initially fell after this announcement, a generally positive outlook has come from it. This being combined with some future earning upgrades from analysts could just help to get this company’s shares back on track. This could mark a turning point for this airline group.