Qantas Airways will resume flights on a limited schedule by mid-afternoon Sydney time today.
The decision comes after the Australia's industrial court granted the local government's application to terminate all industrial action by the Australian Licensed Engineers Union, the Transport Workers Union, the Australian and International Pilots Union.
Following an order issued by Fair Work Australia, there will now be up to 21 days of negotiation between Qantas and the unions.
No industrial action can take place during this period, and if no agreement is reached, binding arbitration will take place under the control of Fair Work Australia, said Qantas in a statement.
The tribunal's decision also means that Qantas will be forced to resume flying again and the three trade unions involved must stop their strike action.
"This is a good outcome that will enable us to begin operating flights this afternoon on a limited schedule with the approval of the regulator Civil Aviation Safety Authority," said Qantas CEO Alan Joyce.
He added that operations will resume progressively from this afternoon and the airline will focus on bringing its schedule back to normal as quickly as possible.
The Australian flag carrier grounded all its domestic and international operations at 17:00 Sydney time on Saturday in protest of on-going industrial action. Over 68,000 passengers were affected and 447 flights cancelled.
The drastic grounding comes after several weeks of occasional industrial action by members of the three unions, which has resulted in flight cancellations and disruptions that have cost Qantas Australian dollar (A$) 68 million so far.
Source: Air Transport Intelligence news
