Qantas has pooh-poohed media stories claiming that Virgin Australia carried more domestic passengers than Qantas in the year to May 2012.
In a strongly worded statement, Qantas said the reports by Australian Associated Press, which were reported in most newspapers and several radio stations, were incorrect.
In the year to May 31, Virgin carried 15.53 domestic passengers, compared to Qantas’ 15.49 but Qantas said the figures ignored QantasLink and Jetstar numbers.
The statement went on, "Qantas, including its regional domestic airline QantasLink, carried 20.25 million passengers over that period.
"In addition to the 20.25 million domestic Qantas flyers, the Qantas Group’s low fares airline Jetstar carried 9.84 million passengers."
Qantas and Jetstar remain the number one and two most profitable domestic airlines in Australia, the statement said.
