That was a massive improvement on the same period last year when it posted a loss of $1.2 billion.

There were good signs for the company. The number of cancelled flights had fallen to 1.7 per cent in September and its on-time performance was near 70 per cent.

However, it is holding back on getting its capacity back to 100 per cent and it was also forced to reach into its pocket for an extra $40 million to add to staff pay after a threat of strikes by cabin crew.

About 1500 Qantas workers were planning strikes from November in the run-up to the peak travel period around Christmas.

The profit forecast led to a surge in Qantas’s shares which jumped 10 per cent this morning.

Its international flights were only going to be 66 per cent of the pre-Covid level in the first half and 77 per cent in the second half. That was because of the time it takes to get its A380s out of storage and do the required maintenance.

Its domestic business was booming and was expected to be 94 per cent by the end of December, but this was 6 per cent down on its previous guidance and Qantas said it was doing this to protect the sustained improvements.

Chief executive Alan Joyce said it was clear that there was a need for more of an operational buffer.

“That means having more crew and more aircraft on standby and adjusting our flying schedule to help make that possible, until we are confident that extra support is no longer needed,” Joyce said.

“We’ll spend an additional $40 million a year on permanent pay rises for our people on top of the $200 million in cash and share bonuses we’ve announced for our people.”

That represented a wage increase of between 2 and 3 per cent and is in addition to the 2 per cent pay increase granted under their EBA.

Qantas said the average non-executive salary was more than $100,000.