Qatar Airways announce £3 billion losses amid pandemic

Qatar Airways has said it suffered more than four billion US dollars (£3 billion) loss in revenues over the last year, as lockdowns triggered by the coronavirus pandemic slashed demand for long-haul travel.

The major loss, which the state-owned airline largely attributed to the grounding of its Airbus A380 and A330 wide-body jets, highlights the dramatic toll the pandemic has taken on the industry.

Even so, the airline reported an increase in earnings to 1.6 billion US dollars (£1.2 billion) before taxes and other costs compared to the previous year.

The long-haul carrier based in the energy-rich Gulf Arab state of Qatar nonetheless praised its resilience in the face of the fast-spreading virus variants still traversing the globe, noting that its operational loss of 288 million US dollars (£210 million) stood at 7% less than the year before.

The airline acknowledged receiving a three billion US dollars (£2 billion) lifeline from the Qatari government as it struggled with virus restrictions.

The other two biggest carriers in the region that depend on lucrative long-haul routes, Dubai-based Emirates and Abu Dhabi-based Etihad, also posted significant losses over the past year.