Qatar Airways navigates Gulf airspace crisis to post $1.94bn profit
May 21, 2026
Qatar Airways Group delivered a strong financial performance for FY2025/26; however, it fell short of the record $2.1bn profit declared the previous year.
The group reported a $1.94 bn profit for the financial year (FY) 2025/26. The figure was a 7% decline from FY2024/25, but the group has described its financial performance as “robust” in the face of global economic instability.
Carrying nearly 42 million passengers between April 2025 and March 2026, Qatar Airways also posted an operating profit of $4.1bn – the highest in the group’s history.
“It is not often a single financial year asks an organisation to demonstrate both the best of what it can achieve and the depth of what it can withstand,” said Hamad Al-Khater, Qatar Airways Group CEO.
He was referring to the ongoing geopolitical disruption in the Middle East, which has led to airspace closures across the region and significantly curtailed operations. The consequences of which, said Al-Khater, “remain very much present today”.
Qatar Airways FY2025/26 results demonstrate robust growth
Despite the challenges in the first quarter of 2026, the airline has demonstrated its resilience. The 2025/26 financial year speaks to the group’s strength “across every measure that matters.”
He highlighted the group’s “strong balance sheet, industry-leading operations, partnerships of real depth”, and its people who have maintained the group/s standards under the most demanding conditions.
“Behind every result are 57,800 people, working across more than 90 countries,” he said. He also noted that in the final weeks of the financial year, many of those people were “managing an active crisis with a standard of professionalism that defines this organisation as much as any financial metric.”
Qatari airspace remains partially closed
The airline was forced to suspend all scheduled operations on 1 March 2026 after the Civil Aviation Authority (QCAA) closed the country’s airspace, with some of Qatar’s aircraft parked up at Teruel Airport in Spain.
The airspace closure – a move mirrored by other regulators in the region – was due to US and Israeli strikes on Iranian military targets that were followed by Iranian retaliation across the Gulf states.
While airspace was partially reopened on 7 March, Qatar Airways flights have been operating within corridors and in some cases with flight caps.
Although a US-Iran ceasefire was announced on 7 April, the situation remains fluid and Qatari airspace has not yet fully reopened.
The airline is currently operating around 140 daily departures from its base at Hamad International Airport in Doha. On 13 May, flights were resumed to Abu Dhabi, following Dubai and Sharjah, as well as Bahrain, Baghdad and Erbil in the wider region.
Qatar is also boosting African connectivity with the return of services to destinations including the Seychelles, Kigali in Rwanda and Marrakesh in Morocco. It is also increasing frequency on routes including Cape Town in South Africa, Cairo in Egypt, Dar es Salaam in Tanzania and Lusaka in Zambia.
In addition, it is launching three weekly flights to Port Sudan in Sudan, and is set to become the first Gulf airline to fly to Venezuela. The expansion is part of the airline’s broader strategy to “actively rebuild” its global network to over 160 destinations by summer 2026.
What were Qatar’s standout achievements in FY 2025/26?
Al-Khater said the airline’s confidence comes from a balance sheet that has “never looked stronger, partnerships that proved their depth when we needed them most and an organisation that has demonstrated, under genuine pressure, exactly what it is capable of.”
Key achievements in the FY2025/26 include record-breaking fleet expansion, including landmark agreements with Boeing and GE Aerospace for up to 210 aircraft and 400 engines.
The 12-month period also saw Qatar complete the world’s first Boeing 777 and Airbus A350 Starlink rollout programme, and become the first carrier globally to introduce Starlink connectivity on Boeing 787-8 aircraft.
The airline also celebrated 86% on-time performance, placing it among the world’s top five most punctual carriers. Plus, it was named the World’s Best Airline in the 2025 Skytrax awards. The announcement marked the ninth occasion the airline has received the award and was complemented by Hamad International Airport in Doha being named Best Airport in the Middle East.
Growth in cargo operations and private aviation
Qatar Airways’ cargo division transported more than 1.43 million billable tonnes of cargo in the period, cementing the group’s position as the world’s largest air freight carrier with a 12% global market share.
Qatar Executive also strengthened its position in the ultra-long-range private aviation sector. Its fleet of private jets expanded to a 27-aircraft next-generation fleet after the group received the final three Gulfstream G700 aircraft, completing a 2019 order.
Operational performance also remained strong with a 27% YoY increase in total block hours flown across the group’s executive fleet.
Underlining that Qatar is now actively rebuilding its global network based on what the last year has built and proved, Al-Khater concluded that, with a strong balance sheet, partnerships, and a fleet order, the group is moving forward with “confidence”.
Featured image: Magic Aviation / Wikimedia Commons
