But the airline, which is reported to be slashing jobs across operations and management and cutting services in an effort to save A$2bn (£1.1bn), faces too much competition from rivals to be able to hike ticket prices, say travel industry experts.

news.com.au reports the Australian Business School professor of travel and tourism economics Larry Dwyer as saying: “[Qantas] has an interest in maintaining stability … not some dramatic changes overnight. There’s some concern and the last thing the travelling public wants is uncertainty.”

He added the real risk for Qantas is that negative coverage is more likely to turn customers away and argued that prices might come into play if people were wavering in their loyalty to Qantas.

A Qantas spokesman told news.com.au: “Today’s decision has no impact on flight prices. Qantas customers won’t notice any difference.”

Image credit: Qantas.com.au