Online
\nDOHA
\nQatar Airways hit turbulence on Wednesday posting a net loss for the year to March 2019 of $639 million which the airline blamed on key markets closing their airspace to Doha. The United Arab Emirates, which was a key market for the Gulf carrier, along with Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Egypt, have enforced an economic boycott of Qatar since June 2017.
\nThey accuse Doha of links to extremist groups and being too close to Iran, Riyadh\u00b4s regional arch-rival — charges Qatar denies — and have closed their airspace, borders and markets to Doha.
\nThe flag carrier said it had added 31 new destinations \u201csince the start of the illegal blockade\u201d, both making use of aircraft formerly used on its popular regional routes as well as new planes.
\n\u201cThe airline\u00b4s fleet grew by 25 aircraft to a point where it welcomed its 250th aircraft in March 2019,\u201d said the statement.
\nThe tiny Gulf emirate\u00b4s national airline lost only $69 million in the same period a year earlier.
\nThat came after a bumper period in the financial year prior to the crisis when it posted a 22-percent rise in net profits for 2016-2017.
\nLosses for the latest period came despite a 14-percent rise in overall revenues to $13.2 billion.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Online DOHA Qatar Airways hit turbulence on Wednesday posting a net loss for the year to March 2019 of $639 million which the airline blamed on key markets closing their airspace to Doha. The United Arab Emirates, which was a key market for the Gulf carrier, along with Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Egypt, have enforced […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-83754","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-world"],"yoast_head":"\n