Qatar Airways annual losses double on pandemic, impairments

Qatar Airways Group on Monday reported a doubling of annual losses to 14.9b riyal ($4.1b), hit by the COVID-19 collapse in long-haul travel and aircraft impairment charges. The state-owned group, which includes the airline and other aviation assets, said it booked a one-off impairment of 8.4b riyal on its fleet 10 Airbus A380s and 16 A330s jets. Its operating loss shrank 7% to 1.1b riyal. CE Akbar Al Baker has cautioned that the A380s, the world's biggest passenger jet, may never return to the airline's operational fleet due to the impact of the pandemic. The financial result for the year to March 31 compares with a 7.3b riyal loss in the year prior, which was also hit by a airspace ban by Saudi Arabia and others that ended in January. Total revenue and other operating income fell 42.5% to 29.4b riyal. Passenger revenue fell nearly 80% to 7.9b riyal. The number of passengers carried dropped 82% to 5.8m. Qatar Airways also reconfirmed it had received $3b in state support since the onset of the pandemic, provided via equity injections from its sole shareholder, the State of Qatar. It said it did not receive any subsidies in the form of salary support, tax relief or grants, while employees took a 15% temporary pay cut and the workforce shrank 27% to 36,707.<br/>