Qatar Airways Group announces QAR3bn profit

Qatar Airways Group has announced a QAR 3 billion operating profit for the fiscal year 2016 – nearly three times greater than fiscal 2015 profit of 1.1 billion QAR. 

This resulted in an 8.6% operating profit margin, an improvement of nearly six percentage points from the prior year, from QAR 35.6 billion in revenues.

The company reported a net profit of QAR 1.6 billion, resulting in a net profit margin of 4.5%. Net profit for fiscal 2015 was 1.1%, at 374 million QAR.

Qatar Airways growth rate (CAGR) in ASK terms since the relaunch in 1997 to 31 March 2016 is 28%.

Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive, His Excellency Akbar Al Baker, said: “Qatar Airways continues to lead the industry in all aspects of the business, from our strong financial performance to our award-winning on board product. Our fiscal 2016 year was the best yet for Qatar Airways Group, and our results reflect the discipline and dedication of the more than 39,369 men and women who proudly represent our airline and its associated brands.”

For the year ending March 31, 2016, Qatar Airways Group reduced its expenses 1.5% and increased its cash and bank balance from QAR 5.5 billion QAR to QAR 12 billion, despite the significant growth in operations and an adverse movement in foreign currency exchange.

Over the course of fiscal 2016, Qatar Airways added 13 new destinations and increased its overall network to more than 150 destinations on six continents. The airline was also the global launch customer of the Airbus A350XWB, the most technologically advanced aircraft in the world, and was the first commercial airline to fly it to the United States. Three continents are now served with the A350: North America, Europe and Asia.

The airline celebrated delivery of its 25th Boeing Dreamliner, and now operates a fleet of 29 Boeing 787s. Celebrating another milestone in the fleet, the airline celebrated the delivery of its 50th Boeing 777, the backbone of its international network.

Qatar Executive, the private jet division of the Qatar Airways Group, became the launch customer of the Gulfstream G650ER, the world’s largest and fastest aircraft of its size. Qatar Executive now has two G650ER aircraft of the total order for 30 Gulfstream family aircraft.

Qatar Airways launched flights to a number of high profile destinations during fiscal 2016, including daily flights to Los Angeles in the United States and Sydney in Australia, further strengthening our overall route network relevancy to travellers world-wide. The airline’s connectivity to the United Kingdom also increased to 73 weekly flights with the addition of Birmingham, our fourth United Kingdom destination.

Qatar Airways plans to launch 17 new destinations in the 2016/2017 fiscal year, with services to Adelaide, Atlanta, Marrakech and Yerevan already in service.

Routes to come include Auckland, New Zealand; Chiang Mai, Thailand; Douala, Cameroon; Helsinki, Finland; Krabi, Thailand; Libreville, Gabon; Lusaka, Zambia; Nice, France; Pisa, Italy; Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina; Seychelles; Skopje, Macedonia; and Windhoek, Namibia.