Qatar Airways reports revenue losses of $1.9 billion

Qatar Airways has reported revenue losses of $1.9 billion for the past year, according to news reports.

“If not for the exceptional circumstances of fiscal year 2020, our results would have been better than the year before,” Qatar Airways CEO Akbar Al-Baker said in a statement, cited by The Associated Press.

The airline carried 32.3 million passengers in the last fiscal year, compared to 29.4 million the year prior.

The loss was blamed on the coronavirus pandemic, its liquidation of shares in Air Italy and the ongoing boycott of Doha by four Arab nations for the drop.

According the report. Al-Baker said since the pandemic, Qatar Airways has flown over 2 million passengers and carried over 250,000 tons of medicine and aid to areas impacted by the coronavirus.

“I have every confidence that the Qatar Airways Group will emerge stronger from this difficult period and continue to innovate and set the standards that our competitors can only hope to emulate,” he said.