Qatar Airways Achieves Remarkable Milestone with Highest-Ever Revenue

Qatar Airways has just released its financial report for 2022-23, revealing its highest-ever revenue of $21 billion, following on from record profits posted last year.

Boosted by the continued recovery of international air travel following the COVID-19 pandemic, along with Qatar’s hosting of the 2022 FIFA World Cup at the end of last year, the Qatari flag carrier reported its highest-ever revenue of $21 billion for the 2022-23 financial year—an almost 46% increase compared to the $14.4 billion revenue posted the previous year.

Although Qatar Airways’ net profit of $1.21 billion did not surpass its record of $1.54 billion in 2021-22, they have made significant progress since incurring a loss of $4.1 billion in 2020-21 due to the pandemic. As a result, Qatar Airways is now in a much stronger financial position.

Photo: Courtesy of Qatar Airways

Qatar Airways served 31.7 million passengers during the last financial year, a 71% increase compared to the previous year when it carried 18.5 million passengers.

Its passenger revenue also doubled last year, despite its capacity only rising by just under a third (31%). The Doha-based airline also recorded its highest-ever yield and load factor, rising by 9% and 80% year on year, respectively.

Bustling Network

Qatar Airways expanded its global network during the last financial year, resuming flights to thirteen destinations across the globe, including London Gatwick (LGW), Perth (PER), and Shanghai Pudong (PVG). It also launched at least two brand-new routes to Düsseldorf (DUS) and Santorini (JTR), while it is also launching direct flights to Lyon (LYS) from Doha (DOH) this week.

The airline was also massively boosted by Qatar’s hosting of the FIFA World Cup. According to Qatar Airways, the carrier took around 1.4 million soccer fans to Doha during the tournament, representing almost 5% of its passenger numbers.

“This year’s strong financial results are attributed to the strong passenger demand recovery and the team’s ability to cater to this demand, aided by our continuing network growth, market leadership, and the operational efficiencies delivered by our world-beating team,” said Akbar Al Baker, CEO of Qatar Airways Group.

Photo: Qatar Airways Al Mourjan business lounge in Doha. Courtesy of Qatar Airways.

“Profitability has been driven by a 100 percent increase in passenger revenues in the last year. Load factors exceeding 80 percent, and the current yield levels are the highest in our history. As the global travel recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic continues, we have managed to retain the high levels of trust, reliability and confidence with our customers.”

“As a result, we maintained our position as the airline of choice for millions of passengers worldwide and our team carried 31.7 million passengers, which is an increase of 71 per cent over the last year.”

Qatar Airways is one of many major airlines to post positive financial reports for the previous year. Dubai-based Emirates reported record profits and revenues for the year ending April 2023, Singapore Airlines posted record-breaking earnings of almost $2 billion in May, and British Airways has announced it has returned to an annual profit for the first time since the pandemic.