Qatar Airways said it won’t be able to operate a full network of flights until 2023 “unless a miracle” happens within the next year, as the aviation market begins a long, slow recovery from the Covid-19 crisis.
The travel industry needs “around two to three years to get back to 2019 levels,” Qatar Airways Chief Executive Officer Akbar Al Baker said in a phone interview on Monday. The Doha-based company has reduced headcount to help reduce operating costs while planes remain grounded, he said.
Qatar has been able to keep operating 75% of its fleet even as other carriers have idled 90% or more, Al Baker said. That’s been partly to accommodate cargo transport and the repatriation of foreign nationals to their home countries.