Stock prices for Australia’s national airline Qantas Airways dropped sharply on Monday, falling more than 10% to reach their lowest point in nearly a year following weekend military strikes involving the United States, Israel and Iran that sent fuel costs soaring.
When trading began Monday in Australia, Qantas stock prices declined as much as 10.4% to A$8.92 per share – marking the lowest trading level since May 2, 2025. By late Monday, the losses had moderated somewhat with shares down 5.8% by 2345 GMT.
International aviation continues to face significant disruption as the Iranian conflict has forced major Middle Eastern travel centers like Dubai and Doha to shut down operations for a second consecutive day, leaving tens of thousands of travelers stranded across the globe and canceling thousands of scheduled flights.
Other regional carriers also experienced stock declines, with Virgin Australia – the country’s second-largest airline – seeing shares drop as much as 3.5% on Monday to A$3.03 each, hitting nearly month-low levels before recovering to post gains of approximately 1.9%.
Meanwhile, Air New Zealand’s stock fell up to 0.5% to NZ$0.553 per share, reaching its lowest trading point since April 7, 2025, though the airline’s losses were later recovered to close unchanged for the day.
