Qatar Airways
State-owned national airline of Qatar, established in 1993 and flying since 1994 from Hamad International Airport in Doha, and a member of the oneworld alliance.
Industry: Airlines | Location: Doha, Qatar | Founded: 1993
About Qatar Airways
Qatar Airways is the national airline of Qatar and operates from Hamad International Airport in Doha. The Qatari government established it on 22 November 1993 and flights began on 20 January 1994. It joined the oneworld alliance in October 2013. Wikipedia reports that it has been wholly state-owned since 2013, when the government bought out the 50 percent held by other shareholders.
Akbar Al Baker led the airline from 1996 until 2023. Engineer Badr Mohammed Al-Meer succeeded him on 5 November 2023; he had been chief operating officer of Hamad International Airport since June 2014. On 7 December 2025 Hamad Ali Al-Khater, previously chief operating officer of Hamad International Airport and a senior executive at QatarEnergy, replaced Al-Meer as group chief executive. Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi is chairman of the group board of directors.
The group includes Qatar Airways Cargo, Qatar Aircraft Catering, Qatar Airways Holidays, Qatar Duty Free and Qatar Executive. Its Privilege Club frequent flyer programme moved to Avios as its rewards currency in 2022. Gulf News reported a fleet of more than 230 aircraft in May 2025, when the airline said it had carried 43.1 million passengers in its latest financial year.
Qatar Airways holds minority stakes in other carriers, including 25 percent of Virgin Australia, bought in 2024, 25 percent of Airlink, acquired in August 2024, and 49 percent of RwandAir. In May 2025 Gulf News, citing Bloomberg, reported a Boeing agreement for up to 210 aircraft, including 130 Dreamliners and 30 777-9s with options for 50 more, valued at up to USD 96 billion.
For the year ended 31 March 2025, Gulf News reported revenue of USD 23.4 billion, up from USD 22.1 billion, and net profit of USD 2.15 billion, up 28 percent from USD 1.7 billion.
In August 2026 Future Travel Experience reported that the airline had equipped 150 widebody aircraft with Starlink, had connected more than 23 million passengers since launch, and was on track to equip its whole Boeing 787 fleet by the end of 2026.
Leadership
- Hamad Ali Al-Khater, Group Chief Executive Officer