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Qatar Airways CE said the airline was adapting to a regional blockade that has prevented it flying some routes, and that those restrictions would not necessarily push it into the red for the current financial year. “There is a possibility that we will post also a loss in our current financial year, but it’s only a possibility,” CE Akbar al-Baker said at the Farnborough Airshow Monday. The airline lost access to 18 cities in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Egypt, and Bahrain in mid-2017, when those four countries cut ties with Qatar after accusing it of supporting terrorism. Qatar denies the charges. The restrictions mean the company is set to post what al-Baker has said will be “a very large loss” for the financial year ended March 2018, but it has not been published yet. Al-Baker said this would be made public in the coming weeks. But for the current year, he said the airline might be able to mitigate the impact of the blockade, which includes a ban on using airspace over the four countries, meaning some of its flights have to take much longer routes. Qatar Airways is starting up to 18 new routes to offset the impact of the blockade, and said it could also make investments to help to boost its results. “We will try to do investments which will give us returns to mitigate the negative impact on the bottom line of our company,” he said.<br/>

Travellers planning long-haul journeys in the run-up to Christmas 2022 face much higher fares due to the World Cup. After the success of the World Cup 2018 in Russia, the next global football tournament will be held in the tiny Gulf state in four years’ time. Due to the extreme heat in June and July, the competition has been shifted to November and December, with the final to be held just one week before Christmas. Qatar Airways, as the national carrier, has made commitments to Fifa for operating flights for officials, teams and media. The usual pattern in a World Cup host nation is for a massive surge in demand for departures in the two or three days after the final, which will be on 18 December. Normally at this time of year, Qatar’s hub at Doha is extremely busy with travellers from Britain and the rest of Europe connecting for flights to Asia, Africa and Australasia over Christmas and the New Year. Akbar Al Baker, CE of Qatar Airways, warned that other airlines will exploit his carrier’s commitments to Fifa to raise fares for such passengers. He said: “It will be a huge pressure on the airline, to cater not only for Fifa but also to cater for the passengers that will be travelling over the Christmas rush period.” Al Baker urged travellers to be prepared for higher prices as other airlines seized upon the reduction in competition, saying: “You have to make sure you have enough money kept aside.<br/>