Mubasher: Qatar Airways would suffer losses over 2018, for the second year in a row, affected by Qatar’s diplomatic crisis, CEO Akbar Al Baker, said on Tuesday.

Since 5 June 2017, Qatar has been facing outflows of foreign customers' deposits after four Arab countries led by Saudi Arabia cut off their diplomatic and trade ties with the gas-rich state, accusing Qatar of financing terrorism. Doha forcefully denies the charges.  

“There is a possibility it could be a second year of losses, but we have mitigated our losses in a big way,” Al Baker told Reuters.

The blockade resulted in banning the Qatari carrier’s flights to 18 different destinations in Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt and others.

Al Baker added that the airline was able to absorb the crisis with a healthy cash balance, without a need for government aid.

“If this blockade continues indefinitely there will be a time where we have to approach our shareholder to inject equity into the company,” Al Baker noted.

It is worth noting that the state-run carrier has investments in other airlines, as it has stakes in British Airways parent, Hong Kong’s Cathay Pacific Airways and South America’s LATAM Airlines Group SA.