Qantas’ outbound numbers boom off the back of a strong Aussie dollar, but sustainable fuels are the long term answer, says CEO

Qantas’ boss has said the strong Aussie dollar won’t benefit the tourism industry in the longer term, and also proposed that Australia should invest in sustainable fuels rather than impose carbon taxes.

Qantas CEO Alan Joyce said the airline was experiencing double-digit growth on outbound passenger numbers due to a high Aussie dollar that made overseas travel more appealing, the Sydney Morning Herald reported.

As a corollary, weaker inbound traffic was detracting from revenue.

"It's net positive for Qantas because we buy $3 billion worth of fuel in US dollars, and in Australian dollars that's cheaper," Mr Joyce said last Wednesday.

"We have $17 billion worth of aircraft on order, when we convert them to Aussie dollars, that's cheaper.

"So we get a big cost benefit out of it - it offsets the revenue.

"In the short term our profitability improves, but in the longer term I don't believe it's good for the tourism industry because I think it weakens the tourism industry," Mr Joyce said.

"And that's not good for our market."

Mr Joyce also said Wednesday that having regions or individual countries impose carbon taxes and emissions trading schemes would distort the aviation industry."It needs to be a global approach," he said.

The comments come in light of the International Civil Aviation Organisation setting a goal of capping emissions from international aviation beginning in 2020 while gradually improving fuel efficiency. Prime Minister Julia Gillard also looks set to press on with a carbon tax system.

Instead, Mr Joyce proposed the pursuit of sustainable fuels, given that the airline industry is one of the biggest emitters of carbon dioxide. Qantas alone spends $3 billion on aviation fuel, which could easily transfer over to sustainable fuels, he said.

Australia has the landmass, technology and expertise to create an alternative to aviation fuel and Qantas had already positively tested algae-based and ethanol-based technology, he said.