Qatar Airways posts record $1.5B profits ahead of World Cup
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Qatar Airways, one of the Mideast's largest carriers known for on-board comfort and luxury, said Thursday its profits over the past fiscal year topped $1.5 billion, marking the highest ever earnings for the state-owned carrier as it prepares to see a record surge in travelers for the upcoming FIFA World Cup soccer games.
Qatar Airways operates out of a gleaming new airport in the capital, Doha, on the eastern coastline of the Arabian Peninsula, where the World Cup will be held for the first time in the Middle East later this year.
Qatar Airways 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 wrought on by the virus. Its main competitor, Dubai's flagship Emirates Airline, also received a multibillion-dollar payment by the Dubai government during the pandemic. The two airlines serve as key economic mainstays for their respective countries, which rely heavily on tourists and transit passengers.
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 25-year-old airline flies to more than 140 destinations, including Atlanta's Hartsfield, where it competes with Delta for international travelers at the world's busiest airport for passenger traffic.
The airline's brand is already to familiar to European soccer fans, where it has partnerships with FC Bayern München and Paris Saint-Germain. In the United States, it has a brand partnership with the Brooklyn Nets.