Qatar Airways annual loss widens to $639m

Qatar Airways reported a loss of 2.3 billion Qatari riyals or 639 million dollars on Wednesday for the year ended March 31, as it grappled with the second year of an embargo by neighbours that has restricted its air routes and driven costs higher.

The results mark a steeper loss from the previous year when the company reported a loss of 69 million dollars.

Group Chief Executive Akbar Al Baker said in a statement that the losses were attributable to “loss of mature routes, higher fuel costs and foreign exchange fluctuations’’.

Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain cut diplomatic and economic ties with Qatar in June 2017 and Qatar Airways has since been banned from flying to the four countries and from using their airspace. (Reuters/NAN)