Qatar Airways Posts $4.1 Billion Yearly Loss

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Skift Take

The Doha-based airline has successfully been punished for running the world’s biggest traveler jet, the A380, which isn’t much use when you can’t fly many long-haul routes.

Matthew Parsons

Qatar Airways Group on Monday reported a doubling of yearly losses to $4.1 billion, struck by the Covid-19 collapse in long-haul travel and aircraft disability charges.

The state-owned group, which includes the airline and other air travel possessions, stated it booked a one-off problems of $2.24 billion on its fleet 10 Jet A380s and 16 A330s jets.

Its operating loss diminished 7 percent to $293 million.

CEO Akbar Al Baker has cautioned that the A380s, the world’s biggest guest jet, might never ever go back to the airline company’s functional fleet due to the impact of the pandemic.

The financial result for the year to March 31 compares with a $1.95 billion loss in the year prior, which was likewise struck by an airspace ban by Saudi Arabia and others that ended in January.

Total earnings and other operating income fell 42.5 percent to $7.84 billion. Traveler revenue fell almost 80 percent to $2.11 billion.

The variety of guests brought dropped 82 percent to 5.8 million.

Qatar Airways likewise reconfirmed it had gotten $3 billion in state assistance since the start of the pandemic, supplied via equity injections from its sole investor, the State of Qatar.

It stated it did not receive any aids in the kind of income support, tax relief or grants, while staff members took a 15 percent momentary pay cut and the workforce shrank 27 percent to 36,707.

Dubai’s Emirates lost $5.5 billion in the same period and has gotten $3.1 billion in equity injections from the state throughout the Covid-19 pandemic.

Qatar Airways and Emirates have no domestic markets to cushion versus border constraints and closures presented to stop the spread of Covid-19.

After drastically cutting services last year, airlines have actually gradually increased services as nations increasingly ease travel limitations with more of their population immunized.

Qatar Airways stated it now flies to over 140 locations, up from a low of 33 throughout the pandemic.

(Reporting by Alexander Cornwell; editing by David Evans and Dan Grebler)

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