The super fund for Qantas employees and spouses is worth around $9 billion, and when completed, the merger will see over 26,000 Qantas Super members join the almost $300 billion ART fund.

The survey, launched earlier this week, is looking to gauge customer interest in Perth flights among customers in the Newcastle and Hunter region, and has already attracted more than 4,500 responses; it also asks about interest in potential flights to Europe.

The low-cost carrier is now behind only Qantas as it grew 149 per cent internationally in Brisbane over the past year, thanks to a massive ramp-up in Asia flights and a boost in services to Auckland.

The Qantas CEO’s comments come after Bonza, which had ambitions to connect mostly regional destinations unserved or underserved by the major players, was put into liquidation earlier this month.