Qatar Airways has just revealed its results for the 2024-2025 financial year (April 1, 2024, through March 31, 2025), and they’re very impressive, the best in the company’s 28-year history, in terms of both revenue and profit.
In this post:
Qatar Airways 2024-2025 financial results
Qatar Airways’ results for the past financial year are mighty impressive, with improvements across nearly all metrics. Here’s a look at Qatar Airways’ results for the 2024-2025 financial year:
- Qatar Airways reported a net profit of $2.15 billion, compared to $1.7 billion the year before
- Qatar Airways reported revenue of $23.6 billion, compared to $22.2 billion the year before
- Qatar Airways carried 43.1 million passengers, compared to 40 million passengers the year before
- Qatar Airways had an 85% average load factor, compared to an 83% load factor the year before
- Qatar Airways had 262.9 million available seat kilometers, compared to 252.9 million the year before
Here’s how Qatar Airways Group CEO Badr Mohammed Al Meer describes these results:
“These record-breaking results are a testament to the hard work, skill and dedication of teams across all of Qatar Airways Group. I know that none of the outstanding results we’re announcing today would be possible without our people – more than 55,000 of them across the globe – and it’s our focus on fostering that talent, which has been a core focus of our Qatar Airways 2.0 strategy.”
“We have also successfully implemented strategic partnerships throughout the industry, in order for the Group to remain agile in the face of ever-shifting world events, whether political, economic or environmental.”
“All of this means we continue to offer and develop exceptional service in the skies, whether it’s the award-winning Qsuite, fine dining, or super-fast complimentary Starlink internet connectivity for all passengers.”
My take on Qatar Airways’ financial results
Qatar Airways is really coming into its own post-pandemic, in my opinion. During the pandemic, the airline did a great job maintaining global connectivity while other airlines didn’t, and the airline has maintained that momentum as things normalized.
It goes without saying that these results from Qatar Airways are impressive, as the airline is setting company records in just about every way, from revenue, to profit, to load factor. Basically the only thing that hasn’t improved is yield, but that’s standard, as virtually all airlines have seen yield decrease a bit, as capacity has increased.
Now, I will note that Qatar Airways definitely lags in profitability compared to its biggest competitor, Emirates. Emirates reported a profit of $6.2 billion in the past financial year, making it the world’s most profitable airline. Then again, Emirates is also significantly larger, carrying around 25% more passengers, and getting around 50% more revenue.
Let me also acknowledge that when I write about the financial performance of the Gulf carriers, there are always questions about whether this is all just imaginary math, given that the Gulf carriers are state owned. After all, going back many years, US airlines spent millions of dollars campaigning to convince us that these are all heavily subsidized airlines that light money on fire (they’ve since changed their tune).
Yes, these results are accurate, and they’re independently audited per international financial reporting standards. However, there’s no denying that the math on some things works differently for an airline like Qatar Airways than many other airlines:
- Qatar Airways has had easier access to attractive financing on account of being government owned, which has allowed the airline to become what it is
- Qatar Airways largely has lower operating costs than other airlines, given that the airline essentially has the same owner as the airport, ground handlers, catering company, etc.
- Qatar Airways doesn’t have any major work groups that are unionized, so labor costs are much lower than they are at many other airlines around the globe
So no, it’s not really an apples-to-apples comparison to look at the financial results of US carriers vs. Gulf carriers. US carriers have a lot more high yield revenue opportunities, but also have much higher costs.
Bottom line
Qatar Airways has reported its results for the past financial year, and they’re overwhelmingly positive. The airline group had record revenue, profits, load factor, and more. While we’re slowly starting to see some softening in demand, the past year was about as good as it gets for airlines, and these results reflect that.
What do you make of Qatar Airways’ financial results?
@Ben/Lucky,*** These results are for the Qatar Airways 'Group'. These financials are NOT just about bums in seats. This includes ALL of Qatar Airways strategic business units ranging from catering to commercial cargo to A MONOPOLY on all liquor and pork sold into the state of Qatar!
Americans need to flee their comfort zone to understand why the world passes them by. We need to use our heads, instead of listening to politicians and PR machines, to dispel long held misconceptions to understand how foreign countries and companies achieve superior results at lower costs and to disengage in scapegoating and hypocrisy. If the executive compensation packages, which tie to stock earnings, are not obscene, unions will not exist. All three big legacy...
Americans need to flee their comfort zone to understand why the world passes them by. We need to use our heads, instead of listening to politicians and PR machines, to dispel long held misconceptions to understand how foreign countries and companies achieve superior results at lower costs and to disengage in scapegoating and hypocrisy. If the executive compensation packages, which tie to stock earnings, are not obscene, unions will not exist. All three big legacy carriers announced huge
earning profits at least five years prior to Covid. Yet, in less than a month into Covid, their CEOs flew private jets into Capitol Hill to beg for a big bailout. Big businesses have same access to funding via taxpayers because they buy off politicians. Paradoxically, all three branches of government are co-conspirators, particularly Clarence Thomas and Alito, in accepting and perpetuating bribery and corruption.
As for the big three ME carriers, their customer services will descend as they expand further. If you have to deal with Qatar office staff to resolve an issue, the customer
service experience will not propel them in raking first in customer satisfaction survey.
Dang, how A.D.H.D. can you be in one post?
You branched off into about six different topics, half of which don't relate to the other (and barely any of which are applicable to this specific discussion) in the same paragraph.
One big reason worth noting for the results, is the growth of the local DOH market.
It's significantly larger than it was a decade ago.
You can't just say that the QR profits aren't real just because you don't like how low their costs are.
(This comment is not aimed at anyone in particular)
- Just complete a long haul QR roundtrip in J from DOH. The outbound was a fully reclining seat on A350 and the return was Q-suites also on A350. On the first flight free WiFi was limited to 20 min and it was 1 h (?) on the return. The service was generally OK but with quite a few gaps. I have ordered a cheese plate that never materialized and then they run out. Asked...
- Just complete a long haul QR roundtrip in J from DOH. The outbound was a fully reclining seat on A350 and the return was Q-suites also on A350. On the first flight free WiFi was limited to 20 min and it was 1 h (?) on the return. The service was generally OK but with quite a few gaps. I have ordered a cheese plate that never materialized and then they run out. Asked for a glass of wine and waited for 15 min. I can taste detergent in my wine glass. The Qatar Business lounges in DOH are getting crowded with long lines to enter during rush hours. The food options are OK high end cafeteria food.
I never had any queue to enter Al-mourjan lounge (the one for Qatar business class passengers).
Seem you used the wrong lounge...
The new DOH lounges are ok, but the catering is indeed a very weak part of QR. Of four legs, we had fruits run out on one leg, ice-cream on the other and congee as one of only two mains on the third leg not even uplifted. We were spared for the fourth leg in terms of catering just cos we were in Economy. Made me wonder if they did not order enough food in premium cabins in the name of cost-cutting, which I have not heard of or experienced on other airlines.
What is the yield comparison across different airlines, particularly I am interested in UA, DL, AA, vs EK vs QR.
Speaking personally, as an international traveler, I am more concerned with an airline’s customer satisfaction rating, their routes and schedules, than their yield comparison.
One is looking forward to the 2025 SkyTrax World Rankings announcement next month.
The U.S. commercial airline operators could do well to take a leaf out of the world class carriers book. They need to stop pretending that they are offering their customers a service which is only a pretend “Premium or First Class”. Sadly the American flying public are being fleeced just as much as Ryanair are doing in Europe. Blaming Boeing is only a small part of Ryanair’s challenges, obviously the customers are sick of being...
The U.S. commercial airline operators could do well to take a leaf out of the world class carriers book. They need to stop pretending that they are offering their customers a service which is only a pretend “Premium or First Class”. Sadly the American flying public are being fleeced just as much as Ryanair are doing in Europe. Blaming Boeing is only a small part of Ryanair’s challenges, obviously the customers are sick of being taken for granted.
Well done Qatar, Ryanair got what they deserve.
American carriers don't have unlimited money. Then there's also shareholder interest which is an entirely different animal to deal with. Comparing a heavily subsidized business against a normal American business is apples to oranges.
An interesting submission PB, however, even American “Apples (and) oranges” can turn sour when mismanaged and provide rotten fruit, etc …. :-)
“Apples (and) oranges can turn sour” - gee, that is so profound!
Actually, some might consider it to be ‘ripe’ VS …. :-)
"can turn sour when mismanaged"
Define "mismanaged."
"Mismanaged" companies tend not to be the most profitable in the world for their business type, even relative to their size, for years on end.
Or is it just that you do not understand that their management is meant to provide returns to their shareholders, and not impress internet randos with whatever gimmicks/gizmos/gadgets you arbitrarily feel to be missing?
QR have done well for themselves, I notice they have surprisingly strong economy fares compared to the competition, which shows their "premium" branding is paying off.
I wonder how the VA play will work out for QR. The Australian market is extremely lucrative given how little air service they have altogether.
Aside from that, I don't see any other major shifts in their strategy for 2025. The India market also continues to grow and Air...
QR have done well for themselves, I notice they have surprisingly strong economy fares compared to the competition, which shows their "premium" branding is paying off.
I wonder how the VA play will work out for QR. The Australian market is extremely lucrative given how little air service they have altogether.
Aside from that, I don't see any other major shifts in their strategy for 2025. The India market also continues to grow and Air India hasn't fixed anything to be honest. Their seats are still falling apart and their pax are clogging up toilets. Many Indian diaspora in America are quite fed up with them and actually avoid them like the plague.
But QR has very limited routes and slots into India, and almost all its Indian flights reach the country between 2 and 3 at night. The Indian government has done nothing to add more bilateral rights for QR. The Indian populace is used to flying EK and EY because of their greater frequencies.
I’m not sure QR can do anything more to attract Indians flying to the US and Europe, and I’m not sure there...
But QR has very limited routes and slots into India, and almost all its Indian flights reach the country between 2 and 3 at night. The Indian government has done nothing to add more bilateral rights for QR. The Indian populace is used to flying EK and EY because of their greater frequencies.
I’m not sure QR can do anything more to attract Indians flying to the US and Europe, and I’m not sure there are that many people who will take QR over EK or (if the schedule works) AI, given the limited frequencies that QR has. If you live in ATL, MIA or PHL, of course, QR is the best choice for flying to India, but for other cities I’m doubtful.
Proxi, are you suggesting that QR deserve even more credit for their performance, as their penetration into the Indian market is so weak?
As someone who's looked into head to India next Christmas, the lack of frequency is a real nuisance. QR have one flight to BOM all day which lands and returns in the late night which makes the journey far more annoying. I want to fly in a premium cabin to make the journey more comfortable but having to be up until 4am makes the flight worse than just flying back home on BA!
I see you are visualizing a future of QR being more present in India. Again, praising India to the high heavens like a true brainwashed nationalist.
And your nemesis RyanAir reports profit falls and is raising fares to compensate blaming Boeing delays!
It would appear that which ever way one looks at it the U.S. aviation industry is being blamed for something …. :-)
What exactly is your beef with US industry? It's not like Europe is heaven on earth for industry.
VS, please be assured that I have no particular “Beef” with any countries industry (China excepted), perhaps your reaction is more fun than you might be expecting?
There are those who post herein who miss no opportunity to berate Great Britain, BA, other EU airlines, airports, etc, etc. However, as Mr Jones used to say …. “They don’t like it up’em”! Please consider this as payback time, nothing more.