Qatar Airways Cargo registered an increase in cargo tonnages during the fiscal year running until March 31 but its revenues declined.
In total, the airline saw its cargo volumes increase by 12.9% year on year to 3m tonnes but revenues were down 25.8% year on year to QAR15.3bn.
The decline in revenues reflects an overall market decrease in airfreight rates last year as demand weakened and extra passenger capacity entered the market following the Covid-pandemic.
Meanwhile, the increase in volumes comes as the airline re-introduced belly capacity after the pandemic.
During the 12 month period, the airline continued to launch new freighter services, including Algiers, Algeria; Bogota, Colombia, to Dallas Fort Worth; US; Dammam, Saudi Arabia; Miami, US; Sharjah, UAE; and Warsaw, Poland.
In the Middle East, it revamped its network to introduce new and resumed destinations, as well as adding more frequencies to Dubai, UAE, and Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and opening Sharjah inthe UAE.
In Europe, the cargo carrier improved its footprint in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, and Frankfurt, Germany, by adding a further weekly and eight weekly frequencies, respectively.
In Asia, the carrier expanded its presence to better serve e-commerce customers, adding services to Macau and charter operations to China.
Additionally, passenger belly cargo flights were added to several destinations, including Chengdu and Chongqing, China; Tokyo Haneda and Osaka, Japan; Lyon, Nice and Toulouse, France; Marrakech, Morocco; Penang, Malaysia, and Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
In terms of fleet, the carrier offloaded its two Boeing 747 freighters during the year. It now operates a fleet of 28 Boeing 777-200Fs, with the latest – and last outstanding order – being delivered in April.
Qatar Cargo also welcomed a new head of cargo in February with the appointment of Mark Drusch.
The overall airline turned in a full-year net profit of QR6.1bn ($1.7bn), up nearly 40%, on revenues of QR81bn.
It states that the figures amount to a record full-year performance for the company.
The Doha-based airline says passenger numbers increased more than a quarter to over 40m – with a load factor of 83% – during fiscal 2023-24.
“Our continued focus on profitability, efficiency and customer experience have been underpinned by a strategic programme of network growth and fleet expansion, resulting in the highest revenues and profit margins in the history of the airline,” said chief executive Badr Mohammad Al-Meer.
Over the year the group introduced 25 aircraft including seven Boeing 787-9s, five Airbus A350-1000s, three 777-300ERs, nine 737 Max 8s, and a 777 freighter.
This brought its fleet up to 284 aircraft.
Qatar Airways’ network has expanded to over 170 destinations, with new services complementing the restoration of operations to a number of cities.
Qatar Cargo aims for efficiencies with data, index-linked deals and by tackling no-shows
