An Australian court has fined airline giant Qantas A$90m (£43m; $59m) for illegally sacking some 1,700 ground workers during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Australia's Transport Workers' Union said it welcomed the ruling, which it said marked the largest employer penalty in the country's history.

Federal Court Justice Michael Lee said in the judgment that he wanted the fine to act as a "real deterrence" to other employers.

The BBC has contacted Qantas for comment.

Australia's biggest airline has faced a years-long legal battle over its decision in 2020 to outsource its ground operations staff, which it said was a necessary financial measure as the aviation industry came to a standstill during the pandemic.

Qantas was ordered by the court to pay A$50m of the penalty directly to the transport workers' union, which had sued the airline over the layoffs.

The decision marked the "end of a David and Goliath five-year battle" and is a "moment of justice for loyal workers who'd loved their jobs at the airline," said the transport union in a statement.

The penalty is on top of A$120m of compensation that Qantas had agreed to pay to laid off workers in 2024, after losing multiple appeals in court.