The financial year of Qatar Airways, which ends at the end of March 2018, closed with a passive statement. This was announced at the ITB Berlin press conference by the President and CEO of the company, Akbar Al Baker. He also stated openly that the economic loss was caused by the neighbors of Qatar: Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Bahrain and United Arab Emirates, which since last June have isolated Doha in terms of supplies of food that prevents the carrier from operating short-range routes.
“The attempt to limit our independence allows us to be even more determined in pursuing our development, and my carrier is even more proud to carry the flag of Qatar around the world,” said the CEO.
“We are a firm and robust company, we will have to consider the arrival of new resources to meet the losses to continue our expansion.
“We are spending more than expected on fuel to operate longer routes, as well as having to use more capacious aircraft with more seats to fill. And even if we cannot avail ourselves of using Chapter 11 as in the USA, we will do our best to find the funds to make new investments.”
Among the news of the coming months, in addition to the already announced opening of 16 new routes (foreseen to be more than that), Al Baker referred to new sponsorship: the World Championships Football in Russia and Qatar, among others, and the arrival in 2019 of the new economy class seats. “It will be something revolutionary,” he promised.
It will be something similar to the transformation of Meridiana into the new Air Italy, which according to Qatar Airways “will have the same quality standards and will become the new national carrier in Italy.”
New air operation
Mr. Al Baker announced the forthcoming of a series of new routes over the next two years and the introduction of the new business-class Q Suite superior on the entire fleet by the end of the year, in Germany from March on Frankfurt flights, and from summer ’18 on flights from Berlin and Monaco.
The new routes that Qatar Airways will launch between 2018 and 2019 are Bodrum, Cardiff, Lisbon, London Gatwick, Luxembourg, Malaga, Malta, Mykonos, Tallinn, Thessaloniki, Antalya, Hatyai, Cebu, Davao, Danang, and Langkawi.
