Qatar Airways has announced profits topping US$1.5 billion over the past fiscal year, marking the highest ever earnings for the state-owned carrier as it prepares to see a record surge in travellers for the upcoming FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
Despite the challenges of the pandemic, Qatar Airways says revenue reached US$14.4 billion, up 78% compared to last year.
The airline carried 18.5 million passengers during the 2021-22 fiscal year, a 200% jump from the previous year.
It’s a sharp reversal for the airline, which suffered a staggering net loss of $4.1 billion in the previous fiscal cycle due to the coronavirus pandemic and the grounding of its Airbus A380 and A330 wide-body jets.
Qatar Airways hub, Hamad International Airport has also today been awarded Skytrax’s ‘Best Airport In The World’ for the second year in a row.
Qatar Airways says it was buoyed during the pandemic’s hardest months with a $3 billion lifeline from the Qatari government that helped keep its operations afloat as it struggled with long-haul travel restrictions brought on by the virus.
Its main competitor, Dubai’s flagship Emirates Airline, also received a multibillion-dollar payment from the Dubai government during the pandemic.
The airline, however, says this year’s “record earnings are the result of decisions made during the pandemic to expand the Qatar Airways’ passenger and cargo networks”, including a more accurate forecast of the global market recovery and strong cost control.
The airline’s brand is already familiar to European football fans, where it has partnerships with FC Bayern München and Paris Saint-Germain. In the United States, it has a brand partnership with the NBA team The Brooklyn Nets.
This week, The Socceroos qualified for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, securing their spot in November after beating Peru 5-4 in a nail-biting penalty shoot-out.
Via AAP