Canberra, Aug 26 (TIWN) Australia's flag carrier, Qantas, is continuing to pay a huge price as the Covid-19 pandemic drags into the second half of 2021, but the airline is holding out hopes that some international flights will resume before the all-important Christmas period.

The airline, in its yearly trading update on Thursday, announced a 2.35 billion Australian dollar (about 1.71 billion U.S. dollar) loss for the financial year.  Qantas CEO Alan Joyce emphasized that the devastating results were due to the virus which had left many of the "flying kangaroos" on the ground for months on end. 

"This loss shows the impact that a full year of closed international borders and more than 330 days of domestic travel restrictions had on the national carrier," Joyce said.

"The trading conditions have frankly been diabolical."  He said that combined with the massive losses of 2020, COVID-19 could end up costing the company more than 20 billion Australian dollars (about 14.55 billion U.S. dollars) by the end of the calendar year.  The airline boss was, however, keen to note optimistic signs on the horizon.