DOHA, May 19 (Reuters) - State-owned Qatar Airways

posted an annual net profit of a record 7.8 billion riyals ($2.1

billion) for the 2024 financial year ended March 31, up 28% from

a year earlier, the company said on Monday, and expects strong

demand ahead.

Demand from the Gulf has defied a global slowdown, with

regional airlines reporting steady bookings even as trade

tensions, currency swings and recession fears weigh on key

Western markets.

CEO Badr Mohammed Al-Meer said the company had

established strategic partnerships across the industry to enable

it to "remain agile in the face of ever-shifting world events,

whether political, economic or environmental."

"Our best year commercially in the airline's history was

2024 and we fully expect demand in 2025 to remain as strong,"

Al-Meer said in a statement.

Revenue and other operating income rose over 6% to 86

billion riyals for the 12 months ended March 31. The airline

carried just over 43 million passengers over the year, up 7.8%

year-on-year.

Network capacity grew by 4% compared to the previous

financial year.

Over the past year, Qatar Airways has acquired a 25%

stake in Virgin Australia and a 25% stake in South Africa-based

regional carrier Airlink.

It placed an order last week for 160 Boeing 777X and

787 planes with GE Aerospace engines worth $96 billion, the

largest ever widebody deal for the companies, during U.S.

President Donald Trump's high-profile visit to Qatar.

Qatar Airways saw above-market growth in passenger numbers

from April 2024 until January this year, a senior executive told

Reuters in March, up 9% across its network.