Employees at Qatar Airways will be rewarded with a bonus of five weeks’ worth of pay after the airline reported an annual profit of $1.21 billion and its best-ever revenue figures.
The profit-sharing bonus contrasts sharply with regional rival Emirates, where employees were recently awarded a bonus worth 24 weeks of pay.
Qatar Airways said 2022/23 was an “extraordinary” year for the Doha-based carrier, which included the historic FIFA World Cup Qatar late last year. The airline reported an increase in annual revenue to $21 billion, although profits were down slightly compared to 2021/22.
Profits were driven by a 100% increase in passenger revenue compared to last year, although capacity only grew by around 30%. Higher yields of 9% and an improved load factor (the average number of occupied seats) to 80% helped drive profits.
Over the course of the financial year, the airline said it carried 31.7 million passengers – a massive 71% increase compared to the previous year. Around 1.4 million of those passengers flew with Qatar Airways for the FIFA World Cup.
“This year’s strong financial results are attributed to the strong passenger demand recovery and the team’s ability to cater to this demand,” commented the airline’s chief executive Akbar Al Baker.
“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,” Al Baker continued.
Qatar Airways is yet to publish its full financial results and has so far only shared summary headline figures.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, government-owned airlines such as Qatar Airways and Emirates have reported strong profits in the wake of the pandemic, while many private carriers continue to pay off debt that they were forced to take on over the last few years.
Qatar Airways has grown its network to 160 destinations and has settled a bitter legal dispute with aircraft manufacturer Airbus, allowing it to return its grounded A350 jets to service. The resolution of this dispute should allow the carrier to boost capacity at a lower cost.
