Sliding oil prices and the government's decision to axe the carbon tax have helped Qantas return to profit.

Qantas says the government's repeal of the carbon tax was a major factor in the airline's return to profit.

Australia's largest carrier on Thursday announced a statutory profit after tax of $206 million for half year ending December 31, and an underlying profit of $367 million.

The underlying profit was the airline's best first-half result since 2010 and an improvement of $619 million compared to the same time last year.

The airline said the repeal of the carbon tax was significant factor in the underlying profit result, adding $59 million.

Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce pointed to the removal of the carbon tax as one of the "positive drivers" behind the result.

Lower fuel prices also improved the underlying profit by $33 million.

"While fuel prices produced a modest benefit in the first half, we expect fuel costs for the full year to be no more than $4 billion at current prices - which will be a significant boost to the bottom line in the second half," he said.

[Source: www.sbs.com.au]