Qantas 2015-16 financial profit "best result in Australian aviation history": CEO

Australian flag-carrier Qantas has recorded the largest yearly profit in its 95-year history, in a result CEO Alan Joyce described as the "the best result in Australian aviation history, full stop".

Just two years after recording its worst ever yearly loss, Qantas posted a record 1.17 billion U.S dollar pre-tax profit for 2015-16, a figure which amounts to 760 million U.S dollars after tax.

According to Joyce, the two-year turnaround of 3.27 billion U.S dollars from its disastrous 2013-14 came about after all of its subsidiaries - Qantas Domestic, Qantas International, low-cost airline Jetstar and Qantas Loyalty - all managed to increase profit margins.

Since 2013, Qantas has retired all of its aging and thirsty Boeing 767 jets from domestic and international service, a number of older Boeing 747 jumbos from international routes, while Jetstar has taken delivery of all of its fuel-efficient Boeing 787 Dreamliners.

Combined with the fleet refresh is a decrease in oil and fuel prices - all factors which have contributed to the turnaround, and Joyce said he expects the good news to continue for the airline in the future.

"Qantas Domestic, Qantas International, Jetstar and Qantas Loyalty all had record results and increased their margins," Joyce said in a statement on Wednesday.

"In total, our transformation program has now unlocked 1.26 billion U.S dollars in permanent cost and revenue benefits.

"We also continue to benefit from lower global fuel prices with a gain of 505 million U.S dollars secured by the (Qantas) Group's effective hedging position."

Joyce also announced that shareholders and employees would benefit from the positive end of financial year announcement with shareholders to receive a dividend of seven cents per share.

The news comes as Qantas rival Virgin Australia drooped to a 171 million U.S dollar loss for year after major restructuring. Endit