Qatar Airways achieves record profit thanks to booming duty-free sales

In Qatar, the Qatar Airways Group announced its strongest financial performance on Monday, revealing a record profit for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2025. The group reported a profit of QAR7.85 billion ($2.15 billion), marking a significant increase of 28% compared to the previous year's profit of $1.7 billion. The airline's revenue saw a modest growth of 6.3%, totaling QAR85.64 billion ($23.5 billion). This indicates the effectiveness of the airline's strategic partnerships, planned route developments, and an emphasis on in-flight services in navigating a complex political and economic landscape. As a key contributor to this success, Qatar Duty Free (QDF), the airline's retail subsidiary, demonstrated strong growth, reporting a 12% increase in sales across its over 200 retail and food and beverage outlets at Hamad International Airport. The airport itself recorded a significant uptick in passenger traffic, welcoming 52.7 million travelers in 2024, which is a 15% rise. This led to QDF processing over 15 million transactions, benefiting from the airport's ranking as one of the busiest international airport hubs globally. Despite QDF's favorable performance, there was a noted softening of sales early in 2025, especially when compared to QDF's earlier reported annual growth of 18%. In a joint agreement with the airline, QDF was also able to leverage marketing strategies through various large-scale campaigns promoting luxury goods, such as the Dior Luxury Beauty Retreat – a significant airport retail project that celebrates QDF's 25th anniversary. In anticipation of their milestone anniversary, QDF plans to launch at least 25 new retail and food concepts throughout the year, further enhancing their customers' shopping experiences at Hamad International. The power of retail within Qatar Airways' operations has been emphasized by the group's CEO, Badr Mohammed Al-Meer, who regards QDF as essential to the airline's passenger-focused operations. The airline's ability to cultivate thriving retail dynamics will likely continue to improve its overall profitability moving forward.