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Qatar Airways reported a loss of 2.3 billion Qatari riyals or $639 million on Wednesday for the year which ended on March 31, as it grappled with a second year of an embargo by neighbours that has restricted its air routes and driven costs higher.
The results mark a steeper loss from the previous year when the company reported a loss of $69 million.
Its Group Chief Executive, Akbar Al Baker, said in a statement that the losses were attributable to “loss of mature routes, higher fuel costs and foreign exchange fluctuations’’.
Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain cut diplomatic and economic ties with Qatar in June 2017 and Qatar Airways has since been banned from flying to the four countries and from using their airspace.
Meanwhile, the world’s commercial passenger and freight plane fleet will more than double in the coming two decades, European aircraft maker, Airbus predicted on Wednesday, citing the stable annual growth in air traffic.
