Qantas prepares to fly after court order

QANTAS Airways could begin returning its grounded fleet to the skies as early as today after an Australian court intervened in a bitter labour dispute by ending strikes and cancelling a staff lock-out.

The arbitration court ruling is a major victory in the airline’s battle with unions whose rolling strikes have forced the cancellation of 600 flights in recent months, disrupted the travel for 70,000 passengers and cost Qantas A$70 million (€53m).

But the surprise grounding of all 108 planes on Saturday, at a cost of A$20 million a day, has hurt the Australian flagship’s reputation among the tens of thousand of passengers who have been stranded around the world.