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Tribune News Network
DOHA
Qatar Airways has generated EBITDAR (Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, Amortisation, and Rent) Margin of 23 percent at QR9.714 billion. The EBITDAR was lower than the previous year by QR1.759 billion due to longer flying time resulting from the illegal blockade of Qatar, and loss of departing seats from the siege countries.
In a statement on Monday, Qatar Airways said that its annual report for 2017-18, which followed the most challenging year in its 20-year history, demonstrates the airlines strength and resilience in the face of adversity. Overall revenue and other operating income grew 7.22 percent annually compared to capacity (Available Seat Kilometres) growth of 9.96 percent.
It said lower revenue growth is directly attributable to the illegal siege imposed on Qatar since June 5, 2017, which impacted departing seats by 19 percent.
Meanwhile, cargo revenue witnessed very impressive growth of 34.40 percent against cargo capacity (Available Tonne Kilometres) growing 13.95 percent annually.
Replacing 18 mature routes, which were closed due to the illegal siege, the airline launched 14 new destinations during the fiscal year (24 new destinations to date). New destination comes with costs and the necessity to establish market presence, which resulted in an overall net loss of QR 252 million.
However, with a positive operating cash inflow, the cash position of the group remained strong at QR13.312 billion.
"This turbulent year has inevitably had an impact on our financial results, which reflect the negative effect the illegal blockade has had on our airline. However, I am pleased to say that thanks to our robust business planning, swift actions in the face of the crisis, our passenger-focused solutions and dedicated staff, the impact has been minimised and has certainly not been as negative as our neighbouring countries may have hoped for," Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive Akbar al Baker said.
A strategic and rapid response from the airline when neighbouring countries illegally closed their airspace to Qatar Airways on June 5, 2017 put the airline in a position of strength from which it has recovered amid unprecedented attack on the country's sovereignty.
Within 10 weeks new destinations to Sohar, Prague and Kyiv were announced and launched, while other routes saw an increase in frequency and capacity, thus swiftly redeploying capacity with a view to soften the impact of being illegally blockaded from 18 regional gateways.
The airline has launched 24 new destinations in total since the start of the blockade, further expanding its network of more than 150 exciting gateways and continuing its ambitious growth plans in Europe and Asia.
Against this backdrop of regional political tension, just six weeks after the start of the blockade, Qatar Airways (QA) proved to the world that its neighbours had failed to reach their objective in reducing the airline to collapse. QA won the coveted title of 'Skytrax Airline of the Year' for the fourth time in less than 10 years. The airline also took home awards for 'World's Best Business Class', 'Best Airline in the Middle East', and 'World's Best First Class Airline Lounge'.
Throughout this turbulent year, QA has not wavered from its strategy and vision of constant growth and development to give its loyal passengers the best possible on-board experience every time they travel.
As the first airline in the world to take delivery of the Airbus A350-1000 in February 2018, QA proved once again that it leads where other airlines follow in terms of providing passengers with the latest generation aircraft available in the skies. As well as taking delivery of its first Airbus A350-1000, the airline added 20 other aircraft to the fleet throughout the financial year, increasing the total number to 213 (as of 31 March 2018).
During the financial year, QA Group also continued expansion of its investment portfolio to include an initial 9.94 percent stake in Cathay Pacific, which has since increased to 9.99 per cent, as well as a 49 per cent share of AQA Holding, the parent company of Meridiana fly, which was relaunched as Air Italy in February 2018.
