Qatar Duty Free has made the most of activations and pop-ups in FY25/26. Shown here: Charlotte Tilbury. 

Qatar Duty Free (QDF) has shown its strength at a turbulent time in the Middle East by generating a sales uplift of +9% year-on-year for the 12 months to March 2026, a month when the country’s airspace was closed due to impacts from the conflict between US-Israel and Iran that started on 28 February.

QDF’s parent company, Qatar Airways Group (QAG), had to significantly curtail its operations and cancel flights in March, but its regional schedules are slowly normalising, and its global network is being restored in phases. QDF was hit hard during its Ramadan festivities, which had just begun.

Without these challenges, QDF may well have reached double-digit growth. According to the company, the +9% rise “reflects higher traveller engagement and spend” driven by many immersive retail activations and its ability to create a seamless travel experience at Doha’s Hamad International Airport (DOH).

In the calendar year 2025, the Qatar Airways hub retained its position as the tenth busiest international airport worldwide with 54.35 million passengers, up +3.1%. However, with the regional conflict affecting March traffic, in the financial year from April 2025 to March 2026, DOH served nearly 51 million passengers according to QAG.

The arrival of Pop Mart and its Labubu dolls caused a stir.

During the financial year, Qatar Duty Free introduced a string of valuable additions to its retail line-up. These included:

• Brunello Cucinelli, Zegna and Tom Ford boutiques

• Pop Mart’s first store in the Middle East

• THE Ü STUDIO multi-brand eyewear destination

• Lancôme Café de la Rose – a global airport first

• Flat White speciality coffee

• Slicy’s NY-style pizza.

Collaborations with brand partners also shaped the airport experience throughout the year. Brand engagement included a world-exclusive festive beauty takeover with Charlotte Tilbury, delivering +700% sales growth for the brand, and the Louis Vuitton Lounge by Qatar Duty Free at the Formula 1 Qatar Airways Qatar Grand Prix, which hosted over 40 celebrities, influencers, and media representatives.

The expansion of Hamad Airport’s D and E concourses, completed at the end of the 2024/25 financial year, further supported this momentum, increasing retail and dining capacity by 2,700sq m and enabling QDF to welcome new concepts and partnerships.

Hamad Al-Khater: “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. FY2025/26 did both.”

Qatar Airways Group shows resilience

As well as QDF’s strong performance, Qatar Airways Group also delivered a strong financial result for FY25/26. Operating profit reached QAR15.2bn / $4.17bn*, the highest in the group’s history, and group profit reached QAR7.08bn / $1.94bn.

In the context of the widespread disruption in March, the result reflects the underlying strength of QAG’s businesses, which span Qatar Airways and QDF as well as another 11 units, including Qatar Airways Cargo and Matar, which operates DOH. Hamad Al-Khater, QAG’s CEO, said: “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. FY2025/26 did both.”

He added: “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. We are actively rebuilding our global network with confidence.” Looking ahead, Qatar Airways expects to reach more than 160 destinations by summer 2026 to reestablish its position as a global hub.

[*FX conversions at today’s rate.]

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