Qatar Airways (QR, Doha Hamad International) will be the launch customer for the A350-1000 once it rolls off the Airbus (AIB, Toulouse Blagnac) production line in 2017 Mike Bausor, the A350 WXB programme's marketing director, has disclosed.
Speaking in Doha Hamad International during the unveiling ceremony for Qatar Airways, and the world's, first A350-900 to enter commercial service, Bausor said: "The A350-1000 is next on its way, and yet again Qatar Airways will be first airline to receive the A350-1000, which should be entering service in 2017."
While the Qatari carrier currently has thirty-seven A350-1000s and forty-three A350-900s on order from the Europeans, CEO Akbar al Baker has said the number could grow should its leasing subsidiary, Qatar Aviation Lease Co. (QALC), see sufficient demand for the types from customers.
With ten A380s on firm order from Airbus, Al Baker told Bloomberg news that his airline would firm up options for three more A380-800s if the model is able to prove itself. As with local rival Emirates (EK, Dubai International), Qatar Airways has expressed an interest in an upgraded A380neo model and would consider re-engining its current fleet should should Rolls-Royce or the General Electric-Pratt & Whitney Engine Alliance offer an upgrade.
