Qatar Airways posted a 39 per cent jump in annual net profit to a record 6.1 billion Qatari riyals ( USD 1.67 billion) on Tuesday.
Revenue grew by 6 per cent to 81 billion riyals in the year ended March 31, the government-owned airline said. It carried more than 40 million passengers and recorded a load factor of 83 per cent .
“Our continued focus on profitability, efficiency and customer experience have been underpinned by a strategic programme of network growth and fleet expansion, resulting in the highest revenues and profit margins in the history of the airline”, CEO Badr Mohammed Al-Meer was quoted as saying in a statement from the airline.
Cebu Air, which operates as Cebu Pacific, and Airbus both declined to comment on any commercial discussions. The airline has been looking to order 100-150 narrow-body jets from Boeing or Airbus worth up to $12 billion at list prices in what was seen as potentially the Philippines’ largest jet purchase.
Demand for air travel has rebounded since the pandemic, but airlines have been constrained as planemakers struggle to get back to previous production levels due to disrupted supply chains and a safety crisis at Boeing. In May, Al-Meer said aircraft manufacturers like Airbus and Boeing needed to put more pressure on their suppliers to reduce delivery delays.
The airline last month announced it was in talks with the two planemakers regarding a major wide-body order.
The carrier is also in talks to buy a stake of up to 20 per cent in Bain Capital-owned Virgin Australia, according to a report last week. ($1 = 3.6445 Qatar riyals)
