The head of Qatar Airways apologised on Wednesday for saying that a woman could not do his job.

Qatar Airways chief executive Akbar Al Baker (above) said his remarks at the closing of a major airlines gathering had been intended as a joke and had been taken out of context.

He defended his airline's record of gender diversity, saying 44 percent of its staff were female.

"Quite frankly I think the press took it out of context.

It was just a joke ... I apologise for it," Al Baker told the CAPA-Centre for Aviation airlines conference in Sydney. 

- Reuters