Qatar Airways has posted its highest ever annual profit, despite the huge turbulence suffered by the aviation and tourism sectors over the past couple of years due to the Covid pandemic.
The 25-year old Doha-based carrier made a net profit of QAR 5.6bn (€1.46bn) in its 2021/22 financial year – which was, in fact, the best profit made by any airline during the period.
Overall revenue was up 78% at QAR 52.3bn (€13.7bn), whilst Qatar also significantly grew its passenger numbers, market share and route network. The airline carried 18.5 million passengers, 218% more than in the previous year.
“Our commitment to providing the greatest choices to our passengers, maintaining the highest levels of safety in the industry and earning trust have made us proudly become the airline of choice for millions of travellers around the world, said Qatar Airways group chief executive, His Excellency Akbar Al Baker.
“We have pursued every business opportunity and left no stone unturned as we aimed to meet our targets,” he said.
Despite the challenges caused the Covid crisis, Qatar Airways managed to grow its route network to more than 140 destinations in the year, opening new routes including Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire; Lusaka, Zambia; Harare, Zimbabwe; Almaty, Kazakhstan and Kano and Port Harcourt, Nigeria in addition to resuming flights to key markets across Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Asia. The company has operated continuously the largest network among all Middle Eastern airlines, as measured by number or destinations as well as weekly flights.
