SYDNEY, Reuters -Qantas Airways Ltd announced on Friday that it has taken almost 500,000 domestic reservations in the last two weeks. This is compared to around 20,000 bookings during August’s lockdown period.

At Qantas’ annual meeting, Alan Joyce, Chief Executive of Qantas said that travel demand is high and confidence levels are high.

He stated that “Domestically the critical Melbourne-Sydney Route has begun to ramp up.” “And most states have outlined their plans to open their borders before Christmas – one of the busiest travel times of the year.”

According to the airline, it will provide more information to market in next month’s update at a moment when international travel is returning.

Australia eased its international border restrictions https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/australia-eases-international-border-ban-first-time-since-march-2020-2021-10-31 on Monday for the first time during the pandemic, allowing some of its vaccinated public to travel freely and many families to reunite, sparking emotional embraces at airports.

Qantas announced last month that all 11,000 employees who were unpaid and remained idle for the past month, approximately half of its workforce, would return to work in early December when domestic and international flights resume normal operations.

Richard Goyder of Qantas stated that they are on track for choosing the best suppliers for an order totalling more than 100 airplanes that will replace their current domestic fleet.