Doha: Qatar Airways reported its audited annual report for the Financial Year 2025-26 where it reported a 9.8% decline in net profits from $2.15 billion to $1.95 billion due to the US-Iran conflict.
Along with this, the company also reported a 2.6% year-on-year decline in consolidated revenue to $22.8 billion. This dip has broken a multi-year growth pattern for the Doha-based airline, where its industry-leading advantages of consistent state support and cheaper fuel are no match due to the geopolitical challenges faced.
The Geopolitical Squeeze
For Qatar Airways, the geopolitical squeeze came almost entirely due to the US-Iran war. With sudden reactive airspace closures over Iran, Jordan and Iraq forced many flights to re-route away from high density commercial routes. This added another 45-90 minutes of extra flight time and resulted in higher fuel and overhead costs. Besides that, annual passenger volumes also reduced 3% to 41.8 million following the war, which resulted in network truncation for flights near conflict zones.
“It is not often that a single financial year asks an organisation to demonstrate both the best of what it can achieve and the depth of what it can withstand. The 2025/26 financial year did both, and the Qatar Airways Group rose to each in turn.
“These results speak to the strength of this Group across every measure that matters — a strong balance sheet, industry-leading operations, partnerships of real depth, and people who maintained the standards this Group is known for, even under the most demanding conditions.
“Behind every result are 57,800 people, working across more than 90 countries. In the final weeks of the financial year, many of them were managing an active crisis with a standard of professionalism that defines this organisation as much as any financial metric, and it deserves to be recognised.
“We are actively rebuilding our global network with the confidence that comes from a balance sheet that has never been stronger, partnerships that proved their depth when we needed them most, and an organisation that has demonstrated, under genuine pressure, exactly what it is capable of.” Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Hamad Al-Khater, said in a press release.
