Qatar Airways says losses reach $1.9 bn amid Covid-19 pandemic, boycott
Long-haul carrier Qatar Airways on Sunday reported revenue losses of $1.9 billion for the past year, blaming the coronavirus pandemic, its liquidation of shares in Air Italy and the ongoing boycott of Doha by four Arab nations for the drop.
The energy-rich nation of Qatar itself needed to bail out the state-owned airline at the end of its financial year on March 31 with $2 billion to keep the airline operating, its annual report acknowledged. The carrier also blamed new accounting rules for further adding to losses for the past fiscal year.
If not for the exceptional circumstances of fiscal year 2020, our results would have been better than the year before, Qatar Airways CEO Akbar al-Baker said in a statement. The airline carried 32.3 million passengers in the last fiscal year, compared to 29.4 million the year prior.
