(Reuters) -Qantas Airways introduced an extra share buyback plan of up to A$400 million ($271.36 million) on Thursday, even because the Australian flag service reported a 16% decline in annual revenue because of rising gas prices and fare normalisation.

Rising gas costs and a return to regular journey capability have led to decrease fares, as passengers seek for extra budget-friendly journey choices.

Qantas expects its gas prices within the first half of fiscal 2025 to be in keeping with the year-ago degree at A$2.7 billion ($1.83 billion), though finance prices and bills related to entry into service are anticipated to trickle larger.

“Group International unit revenue is expected to fall 7%-10% over the same period as market capacity continues to restore. However, this rate of decline is expected to slow in FY25,” Qantas mentioned in an announcement.

The service predicted a return to optimistic unit income by the fourth quarter of fiscal 2025, in comparison with the earlier 12 months.

The airline’s underlying revenue earlier than tax fell 16% to A$2.08 billion within the 12 months ended June 30, in keeping with a Seen Alpha consensus of A$2.08 billion.

On a statutory foundation, revenue after tax attributable declined 28.1% to A$1.25 billion.

General, earnings fell because of fare normalisation, elevated investments in customer-focused promotions, and decrease freight revenue, notably within the first six months of the 12 months.

The airline is making an attempt to woo prospects with promotions and improved in-flight services, after a sequence of controversies concerning journey bookings and worker therapy broken its fame amongst buyers and public.

Qantas didn’t declare a remaining dividend for the fifth straight monetary 12 months.

Nevertheless, the corporate introduced an extra A$400 million share buyback programme to distribute extra capital, citing the success of all standards inside its monetary framework.

($1 = 1.4738 Australian {dollars})