Australian airline Qantas on Thursday reported that its statuary profit after tax for the six months ending on December 31 dropped by 13% to $869 million Australian ($570 million US). Underlying profit before tax was $1.25 billion for the period, a decline of $183 million year-on-year. Earnings were 13% lower than the same period a year earlier as fares and capacity continued to normalize. Lower fares contributed to reduced revenue per available seat kilometre, which had an impact on profit of a