The Qatar Airways Group said on Sunday that total revenues rose by 6.4% to 51.1 billion riyals ($ 14.2 billion) during the last fiscal year ending in March 2020.

The group issued its annual report for the year 2019/2020, which highlighted the airline’s continued resilience in the face of the illegal blockade on the State of Qatar, and the strength of its operations during a period considered the most difficult in the history of aviation in the world.

The official national carrier of the State of Qatar said in a statement that revenue from passenger flights increased by 8.9%, with the available seats per kilometer increasing by 3.2%.

Qatar Airways carried about 32.4 million passengers during the past fiscal year, an increase of 9.8% compared to the previous fiscal year.

Its assets increased by 33.5% to 127.482 billion riyals (35.4 billion dollars) during the fiscal year 2019/2020, compared to 95.472 billion riyals (26.53 billion dollars) the previous year.

However, the annual losses of the Qatar Airways Group increased by 47.6% during the fiscal year ending last March to 7 billion riyals (1.94 billion dollars), compared to 4.75 billion riyals (1.32 billion dollars) the previous year.

The group attributed the losses to 4 factors, including the continuation of the illegal blockade of Qatar, the suspension of Italian aviation operations by the majority owner of the company, and keeping pace with changes in the accounting policy and reporting standards, and the spread of the Coronavirus (Covid-19).

Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt imposed a blockade on Qatar in June 2017.

Al-Baker: Qatar Airways will go through this difficult period stronger than it was (European News Agency)

Challenges

The Group CEO, Akbar Al Baker, confirmed that despite the great challenges that the Qatari carrier faced, it continued its march forward, especially with the growth of its operations thanks to the strong bases upon which these operations are based.

Al-Baker said, "Had it not been for these exceptional things to happen, the group would have been on its way to record better financial results than the previous financial year."

He added that the group invested 16.8 billion riyals to develop the fleet and other services during the year, and maintained a cash balance of 7.3 billion riyals at the end of the year.

Al-Baker confirmed his complete confidence that Qatar Airways will pass this difficult period stronger than it was, and will continue to innovate new means of serving travelers, and establishing new standards that its competitors will hope to match, while making sure that it is the airline that millions of travelers depend on in good and bad times. Both.

The Qatari carrier has been keen to reduce the number of its destinations throughout the pandemic period to below 30, while continuing its operations to 5 continents.

Since mid-September, the company has started operating more than 650 weekly flights to more than 90 international destinations on 6 continents.

According to recent statistics issued by the International Air Transport Association (IATA), Qatar Airways became the largest international airline during the period from April to last July.

Earlier, a report in the French magazine Le Point indicated that Qatar Airways had wisely overcame the Covid-19 crisis and its repercussions on the aviation and trade sector.