Qatar Airways Group Reports Record $2.15 Billion Profit

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.

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?