Qatar Airways Cargo inaugurates Doha's new Hamad International Airport

Airbus axes Qatar Airways' remaining A350 orders - reports

Airbus (AIB, Toulouse Blagnac) has unilaterally terminated the remainder of Qatar Airways's A350-1000 order backlog, which as of early August 2022 stood at 19, Reuters and Wall Street Journal reported citing unnamed sources.

With the airline refusing to accept anymore A350s until fuselage paint deterioration issues have been addressed to its satisfaction, the European manufacturer has been dropping orders one by one in line with their scheduled delivery dates. Airbus terminated two orders in January 2022, a further one in May 2022, and one more in June 2022.

Qatar Airways took delivery of all thirty-four -900s between 2014 and 2019 and took nineteen -1000s between 2018 and 2020. When the dispute with Airbus erupted, the airline still had twenty-three -1000s on order.

If confirmed, the decision would be Airbus's second unilateral order termination of a Qatar Airways order. In January 2022, the manufacturer axed the Qatari's order for forty A321-200Ns and ten A321-200NX(LR)s. The London High Court later upheld Airbus' right to remarket the A321neo, even...

Qatar Airways CEO eager to exit A380 fleet

Qatar Airways (QR, Doha Hamad Int'l) will continue to retire its A380-800s as soon as feasible, seeing no long-term future for the giant jet in its fleet, according to Group Chief Executive Officer Akbar Al Baker.

Speaking to Simple Flying, he reiterated he still considered the A380 his "biggest mistake".

Al Baker's comments coincided with several airlines returning the A380 to service following a massive travel rebound this summer and slot capacity constraints at major airports. There is also a lack of wide-body capacity amid production issues with the new A350, an issue that has escalated into a USD1 billion legal battle between Qatar Airways and Airbus.

However, Al Baker said spare parts for A380s were challenging to get. "Out of the eight that we commissioned to fly, we only fly seven. We keep one spare because today, you have difficulty getting spares for them because of the supply chain. [Airbus] stopped producing them, so there is no more incentive to make spares."

"Due to the grounding of the A350s...

Islamabad probes PIA's IFE system deal

Pakistani lawmakers are to scrutinise what they believe to be a dodgy deal between PIA - Pakistan International Airlines (PK, Islamabad Quaid-e-Azam Int'l) and a local company to develop a PKR700 million rupee (USD3 million) inflight entertainment system (IFE) for the national carrier's eight B777-200(ER)s.

The country’s Senate Standing Committee on Aviation this week will probe the deal between the airline and Pakistani firm Aviation Avionics. This followed a decision in 2020 to go with the local firm after off-the-shelf solutions proved too expensive, according to local news reports.

The aim was to make the national carrier more competitive on long-haul routes to Europe and the US while boosting the local manufacturing industry. PIA’s long-haul flights had lacked an effective IFE system for some time, leaving it at a competitive disadvantage against the likes of Emirates, Etihad Airways, and Qatar Airways.

The Senate committee will also investigate the closure of PIA’s Hyderabad booking office and look into the appointment and qualifications of the current director general of the Pakistan Civil...

Qatar Airways revives 25+25 B737 MAX deal

Qatar Airways (QR, Doha Hamad Int'l) has placed a firm order for twenty-five B737-10s with a further 25 options, reviving a deal initially signed in January 2022.

The announcement made during the Farnborough Air Show is firm and no longer subject to finalisation.

Qatar Airways' history with the B737 MAX dates back to 2018, when the carrier started leasing B737-8s on behalf of Air Italy, in which it indirectly held a 49% stake. It had planned to add at least twenty MAX 8s, mostly but not exclusively for Air Italy. These plans were suspended after the grounding of the type in March 2019 and later cancelled once Air Italy went out of business in early 2020. Qatar Airways then said it had no need for the B737 MAX in its own fleet.

The situation changed once Airbus unilaterally cancelled the carrier's order for fifty A321-200neo in relation to the ongoing legal battle concerning the airworthiness of Qatar's A350s. This left Qatar Airways...