Qantas highlights Economic Contribution of its activities to Australia

We continually debate the value of new air services and the essential role airlines and airports provide in ensure global connectivity. Now, following a study released this month by Deloitte Access Economics, we can learn the economic contribution of an airline group to its home economy.

Based on the analyst modelling, the economic study, commissioned by the Qantas Group suggests the estimated total economic contribution of the Qantas Group to Australia in 2014/15 is $11.4 billion ($5.9 billion direct and $5.4 billion indirect) while facilitating an additional $9.5 billion of tourism expenditure across Australia.

As the country’s largest airline, Qantas plays a key role in the nation’s economy, both as an employer and as a provider of transport services for both passengers and freight. But its contribution extends further than just its direct activities, as it is a key consumer of upstream inputs, generating additional indirect contributions through the supply chain. It is also a key facilitator of Australia’s tourism sector, transporting visitors both domestically within Australia and from other countries.

As a share of Gross Domestic Product, the economic contribution of the Qantas Group represents 0.7 per cent of total economic activity in Australia. This is a significant share of total economic activity for a single Group. Considering solely the direct contribution, the Qantas Group’s operation made up approximately 0.4 per cent of GDP, a more significant contribution to Australian GDP than many other major industries in the country and just under one third of the economic contribution of coal mining.

“This emphasises the scale of the Qantas Group’s contribution the Australian economy, with the total contribution to total GDP being larger than whole industries (such as broadcasting and the rail transport industries) that are comprised of hundreds of companies,” said the report.

The Qantas Group consists of national carrier Qantas (Qantas International, Qantas Domestic and QantasLink), its low-cost operation Jetstar Airways, as well as the Qantas Loyalty, Qantas Freight and Corporate activities businesses.

You can view the full report here.