The destinations Qantas boss Vanessa Hudson says cash-conscious customers are choosing

Qantas’ budget airline Jetstar is making the most of the humble toastie as chief executive Vanessa Hudson says customers still have the cash to travel but are picking bang-for-buck destinations such as Vietnam, Bali, Thailand and Japan.

By balancing inventory of the easily-prepared snack, depending on the time of day on flights she said Jetstar was saving on wastage and picking up extra ancillary revenue from in-flight services.

“We provide in-flight toasties on Jetstar for a price . . . we put more toasties on a flight that is a late flight going to Bali so you don’t run out,” she told the Macquarie Australia Conference in Sydney on Thursday.

“But on the return flight it’s a night time flight and not many people are shopping for toasties, so we don’t load so many and don’t waste a lot.

“We’ve saved Jetstar both significant waste but have also boosted our revenue as a result.”

Ms Hudson hinted there would be “a number of initiatives” launched soon that would drive Jetstar’s efforts to pick up more revenue from channels outside of tickets sales.

She was quizzed about the initiatives and the national carrier’s rehabilitation on the final day at the conference, where she declared that — after a period of turbulence post-COVID — the airline’s on-time performance was “the best it’s ever been” as the company readies for the launch of its ultra-long haul flights from Australia.

Ms Husdon called out strong demand for non-stop flights from Perth to cities in Europe as a positive harbinger for Project Sunrise, which is due to launch next year.

She said it was also representative of a broader trend in airline travel that those who could afford it wanted a more premium travel experience.

“We’re continuing to see Perth to London perform really well, we’re continuing to see Perth to Europe, Auckland JFK doing really well,” Ms Hudson said.

“That’s a combination of this consumer demand wanting to travel in a premium cabin as much as it is about consumers wanting to go from point to point, and they’re prepared to pay a premium for that service.”

Qantas would need to keep delivering value on those flights, however, or risk losing the right to charge a premium, Ms Husdon said. The airline flies without stopping from Perth to London, Paris and Rome and this week launched direct flights to Johannesburg and Auckland.

Direct flights from Sydney to London and New York are due to begin in 2027.

For those with less cash to spend on travel, Ms Husdon said demand had not been dampened but customers were focusing choices on destinations that provided better value.

“By putting capacity into those destinations — like Thailand, like Vietnam, like Bali and also Japan — we’ve actually seen . . . demand for low fares travel grow,” she said.

“One-third of the customers that flew on Jeststar flew for less than $100 one-way, in an environment where there is an intent to travel but pressures from cost of living, that is a great thing.”

It comes as Qantas battles to win back the trust of Australian customers who lost faith in the national carrier after it sold tickets for flights that had already been cancelled amid a raft of other costly PR scandals.