Qatar Airways shareholders considered dissolving the airline five year ago, amid mounting liabilities, according to a new dossier released by US airlines.
Delta Air Lines, American Airlines, and United Airlines, under the umbrella of Partnership for Open and Fair Skies, have released financial records of Qatar Airways, Emirates and Etihad Airways obtained after a two-year investigation.
Based on this evidence, the US airlines claim their Gulf counterparts have received $42 billion in subsidies and other state benefits since 2004.
The investigators claim they managed to obtain financial statements, charter documents and other records from corporate registries in various countries where the Gulf carriers have local operations.
The worldwide search spanned nearly 30 jurisdictions, including Singapore, Australia, India, Belgium, Ireland, Malta and the United Kingdom, and yielded 44 documents totalling 1,021 pages – all of which are now available online.
The investigation unearthed 19 years of Qatar Airways’ financial statements. In the 2009 financial statement, which was audited by Ernst & Young, it was reported that the airline had accumulated losses that exceeded 50 percent of the share capital. In accordance with the articles of association of the company, an emergency general meeting (EGM) had to be convened to decide whether the situation required a dissolution of the company, decrease its stake or take any other suitable measures, the documents claim.
At the meeting on September 8 2009, the shareholders resolved to continue operations as adequate financial support was made available to meet any liabilities, the documents claim. Qatar Airways did not respond when contacted by Arabian Business for comment.
Both Etihad and Emirates have strongly denied that they have received subsidies, while Qatar Airways’ CEO Akbar Al Baker is due to address the allegations in presentations scheduled for May 13.
Originally published at ArabianBusiness.com: Qatar Airways shareholders considered dissolving the carrier in 2009, US dossier claims