Qatar Airways Group announces strong financial results for FY 2016

• Improved year-over-year results in all business units
• Revenues up 4.3 per cent; Operating Costs down 1.5 per cent for the Group
• Qatar Airways Group businesses producing strong financial results in the midst of record-setting growth

DOHA, Qatar, 2016-Jul-12 — /Travel PR News/ — Qatar Airways Group announced a 3 billion QAR operating profit for fiscal year 2016 – nearly three times greater than fiscal 2015 profit of 1.1 billion QAR, resulting in an 8.6 per cent operating profit margin, an improvement of nearly six percentage points from the prior year, from 35.6 billion QAR in revenues. The company reported a net profit of 1.6 billion QAR, resulting in a net profit margin of 4.5 per cent. Net profit for fiscal 2015 was 1.1 per cent, at 374 million QAR.

Qatar Airways growth rate (CAGR) in ASK term since the relaunch in 1997 to 31st March 2016 is 28%.

Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive, His Excellency Mr. Akbar Al Baker, said: “Qatar Airways continues to lead the industry in all aspects of the business, from our strong financial performance to our award-winning on board product. Our fiscal 2016 year was the best yet for Qatar Airways Group, and our results reflect the discipline and dedication of the more than 39,369 men and women who proudly represent our airline and its associated brands.”

For the year ending March 31, 2016, Qatar Airways Group reduced its expenses 1.5 per cent and increased its cash and bank balance from 5.5 billion QAR to 12 billion QAR, despite the significant growth in operations and an adverse movement in foreign currency exchange. Over the course of fiscal 2016, Qatar Airways added 13 new destinations and increased its overall network to more than 150 destinations on six continents. The airline was also the global launch customer of the Airbus A350XWB, the most technologically advanced aircraft in the world, and was the first commercial airline to fly it to the United States. Three continents are now served with the A350: North America, Europe and Asia.

The airline celebrated delivery of its 25th Boeing Dreamliner, and now operates a fleet of 29 Boeing 787s. Celebrating another milestone in the fleet, the airline celebrated the delivery of its 50th Boeing 777, the backbone of its international network.

Qatar Executive, the private jet division of the Qatar Airways Group, became the launch customer of the Gulfstream G650ER, the world’s largest and fastest aircraft of its size. Qatar Executive now has two G650ER aircraft of the total order for 30 Gulfstream family aircraft.

Qatar Airways’ home and hub, Hamad International Airport (HIA), proved more than capable of handling capacity traffic, serving a record number of travellers for the calendar year 2015, its first full year of operations, with more than 30 million people served, while simultaneously being named Middle East Best Airport for the second year in a row, and for being the first Middle Eastern airport to be named to Skytrax’s World’s Top 10 Best Airports. HIA, managed by Qatar Airways Group, introduced a new mobile app to help travellers navigate through the shopping, dining and other experiential opportunities that await them at the airport, and continue to advance the use of technology to create a “smart airport” that puts more control into the hands of the traveller.

Qatar Airways Cargo had a record-setting year, growing to third-largest cargo operator in the world as of October 2015, and continuing to expand both its fleet and product line-up. Over the course of fiscal 2016, Qatar Airways Cargo increased its dedicated freighter destinations to 54, adding Dallas, Budapest, Prague, Ho Chi Minh City, and New York to the network. In addition, with the airline’s commercial growth, QR Cargo increased available tonnage world-wide by double digits this year and will continue to grow both organically, as the fleet is scheduled to grow to 22 aircraft by 2017, and through the airline’s growth in commercial service.

Qatar Airways launched flights to a number of high profile destinations during fiscal 2016, including daily flights to Los Angeles in the United States and Sydney in Australia, further strengthening our overall route network relevancy to travellers world-wide. Our connectivity to the United Kingdom also increased to 73 weekly flights with the addition of Birmingham, our fourth United Kingdom destination.

The destinations Qatar Airways added during the 2016 fiscal year are; Abha, Amsterdam, Birmingham, Boston, Durban, Faisalabad, Los Angeles, Multan, Nagpur, Ras Al Khaimah, Sialkot, Sydney, and Zanzibar. Closer to home, the Doha-Dubai Shuttle was introduced, the first-of-its-kind flying between the two cities, a customised service responsive to the specific needs of this heavily trafficked corridor.

Qatar Airways plans to launch 17 new destinations in the 2016/2017 fiscal year, with services to Adelaide, Atlanta, Marrakech and Yerevan already begun.

To come: Auckland, New Zealand; Chiang Mai, Thailand; Douala, Cameroon; Helsinki, Finland; Krabi, Thailand; Libreville, Gabon; Lusaka, Zambia; Nice, France; Pisa, Italy; Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina; Seychelles; Skopje, Macedonia; and Windhoek, Namibia.

Click here for Qatar Airways Consolidated Financial Statement 2015-2016.

Click here for Qatar Airways Group Annual Report Fiscal 2016.

Click here for Arabic Qatar Airways Group Annual Report Fiscal 2016.

Notes to Editors:

About Qatar Airways:
Qatar Airways, the national carrier of the State of Qatar, is one of the fastest growing airlines operating one of the youngest fleets in the world. Now in its 19th year of operations, Qatar Airways has a modern fleet of 186 aircraft flying to more than 150 key business and leisure destinations across six continents. Qatar Airways won Airline of the Year, Best Business Class Airline Seat and Best Airline in the Middle East at the 2015 Skytrax Awards. This is the third time the airline won the accolade of Airline of the Year.

Qatar Airways is a member of the oneworld global alliance. The award-winning alliance was named the World’s Best Airline Alliance 2015 by Skytrax for the third year running. Qatar Airways was the first Gulf carrier to join global airline alliance, oneworld, enabling its passengers to benefit from more than 1,000 airports in more than 150 countries, with 14,250 daily departures.

In 2015 Qatar Airways launched Oryx One, an enhanced interface for its inflight entertainment system, increasing the number of movies and TV shows on board from 950 to up to 3,000. Passengers flying on Qatar Airways flights served by its B787, A350, A380, A319 as well as select A320 and A330 aircraft can also stay in touch with their friends and family around the world by using the five-star airline’s on-board Wi-Fi and GSM service.

Qatar Airways Cargo, the world’s third largest cargo carrier, serves more than 50 exclusive freighter destinations worldwide via its Doha hub and also delivers freight to more than 150 key business and leisure destinations globally on 186 aircraft. The Qatar Airways Cargo fleet now includes eight Airbus 330Fs, nine Boeing 777 freighters and two Boeing 747 freighters.

For further information contact:
Qatar Airways Group, Corporate Communications Department
Tel: +974 4022 2200, Fax: +974 40225350
E-mail: qrmedia@qatarairways.com.qa

Visit our homepage www.qatarairways.com or our sites on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Instagram, and YouTube.
For Qatar Airways corporate images, please click here: http://www.qatarairways.com/corporateimages

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