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Qatar Airways profit jumps three-fold amid route expansion, low fuel cost

Xinhua, July 12, 2016 Adjust font size:

Qatar Airways announced on Monday an operating profit of three billion Qatari riyals (about 824 million U.S. dollars) in 2016, up from 1.1 billion riyals the previous year due to low oil prices, route expansion and a cut in expenditure.

The carrier said in its first published full-year results that the operating profit for fiscal year 2016 was nearly three times than 2015, resulting in an 8.6 percent operating profit margin, an improvement of nearly six percentage points from the prior year.

The growth rate in ASK term since the relaunch in 1997 to this March is 28 percent, according to the company's financial statement.

Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive Akbar Al Baker said "Qatar Airways continues to lead the industry in all aspects of the business, from our strong financial performance to our award-winning on board product."

"Our fiscal year 2016 was the best yet for Qatar Airways Group.", Al Baker added.

For the year ending March 31, 2016, Qatar Airways Group reduced its expenses 1.5 percent and increased its cash and bank balance from 5.5 billion to 12 billion riyals, despite the significant growth in operations and an adverse movement in foreign currency exchange, according to the statement.

Meanwhile, the airways earnings received a boost from the low oil prices. The Gulf state's national carrier said that its fuel costs dropped to 9.2 million from 12.8 million riyals the previous year.

Over the course of fiscal year 2016, the company added 13 new destinations and increased its overall network to more than 150 destinations on six continents.

The airline was also the global launch customer of the Airbus A350XWB, the most technologically advanced aircraft in the world, and was the first commercial airline to fly it to the United States, and plans to add 17 new destinations in the current fiscal year.

Qatar Airways Cargo also had a record-setting year, growing to the third largest cargo operator in the world as of October 2015, and continuing to expand both its fleet and product line-up. Endit