Qatar Airways Chief Executive provided information about the airline’s plans for its Airbus A380s at a media meeting at the Paris Air Show 2023. The airline had grounded its Airbus A380s and then restored them as demand for air travel increased.
The fleet of Airbus A380 planes operated by Qatar Airways will gradually be phased out after the European aircraft manufacturer delivers the A350, according to Akbar Al Baker, the airline’s chief executive officer.
The airline lost its delivery slots for both the A321neo and A350 when the two parties’ dispute surrounding the early deterioration of Qatar Airways’ Airbus A350s’ paint surfaces was resolved amicably in February 2023.
The Qatari airline currently operates eight of its ten Airbus A380s, and there are no plans to put the other two back in operation.
Al Baker further stated that beginning in 2025, 18 of the 23 A350s that Airbus added back to its Orders & Deliveries files on February 1, 2023, should begin to be delivered. The executive added that since the disagreement was resolved, the airline and the manufacturer’s relationship has improved.
According to data from ch-aviation.com, Qatar Airways now has a fleet of 34 Airbus A350-900 and 21 A350-1000 aircraft, with Airbus still owing 21 deliveries of the latter model.
Qatar Airways believes that Boeing will start delivering the 777X-9 in 2025 in addition to the wide-body Airbus aircraft, however, this timeframe is reliant on the aircraft’s certification.
The goal is to release the 777X in 2025, according to manufacturing executives who appeared at the Bernstein Strategic Decisions Conference in early June 2023.
Al Baker told Bloomberg during the IATA Annual General Meeting (AGM) in Istanbul, Turkey, that he does not believe it is necessary for the airline’s future 777X aircraft to include First Class seats.
The CEO of Qatar Airways stated that First Class is no longer profitable.
