Qatar Airways achieves strong cargo growth in fiscal year

Qatar Airways, the largest non-express scheduled air cargo carrier in the world, on Thursday reported a 25% increase in cargo revenue for the fiscal year ended March 31 from moving more than 3.3 million tons of goods. Volume by weight was more than double the last pre-pandemic year.

The company claims it now holds an 8% share of the cargo market, although it is unclear what the figure is based on since there are no known independent rankings for market share. Nobody was available to explain the claim because the company’s main office closes on Fridays.

Outsize cargo contributions to airlines’ top lines have been an industry feature during the two-year COVID crisis and cargo no doubt played a role in the Middle East carrier’s record net profit of $1.54 billion. But details are limited because the company is wholly owned by the Qatari government and its financial statements are more opaque than those of publicly traded rivals. 

Qatar Airways, for example, doesn’t publish its actual cargo revenue figure or cargo yield. It did say that tonnage increased 10% and cargo capacity, measured in available ton kilometers, increased 25% from the prior period. A portion of that extra space for cargo was due to the reintroduction of more passenger aircraft to the network following COVID-related cutbacks, which the company said was possible because of more accurate forecasting about the market recovery.