Qatar Airways’ Order For A350s And A321s Is Reinstated

Qatar Airways’ order for Airbus aircraft has been reinstated

(CTN News) – Qatar Airways and Airbus have been engaged in a major dispute regarding the airline’s Airbus A350s for over a year.

In response to these safety concerns, Qatar Airways grounded the jets and refused to take delivery of more aircraft until the issue was resolved, whereas Airbus claimed the problems were cosmetic, and canceled Qatar Airways’ future aircraft order for breach of contract.

It was fortunate for both companies to reach a settlement in February 2023. The two companies stopped suing each other and agreed to work together to put Airways’ A350s back into service, but I wasn’t clear what this meant for Qatar Airways’ aircraft order.

It’s good news because Qatar ‘ aircraft order with Airbus has been fully reinstated through this agreement:

• Qatar Airways will receive 23 more Airbus A350-1000 aircraft starting in late 2023, adding to its existing fleet of 19 aircraft.

• Qatar Airways will receive 50 Airbus A321neo aircraft in 2026, which will refresh the carrier’s short-haul fleet. The planes will now be delivered starting in 2026 after Qatar lost its delivery slots.

Qatar Airways and its passengers are delighted with the news

As a result of the groundings of the A350s, Qatar Airways has encountered some major challenges regarding fleet consistency and Qsuite availability. The grounding of so many A350s has forced the airline to bring back aircraft that were supposed to be retired, and to lease aircraft from other carriers.

The fact that Qatar Airways is now bringing back grounded A350s and taking delivery of new A350s with Qsuites is excellent news.

Due to the airline’s aircraft shortage, the airline hasn’t reconfigured many planes recently with new cabins, but hopefully with more planes returning, the airline can also speed up its cabin refresh project.

There is still an issue with narrow body fleets. A321neo deliveries were supposed to begin in 2023, but have been pushed back three years, to 2026.

However, Qatar did order 25 Boeing 737 MAX 10s during their dispute with Airbus. Qatar won’t be able to deliver its 737 MAX 10s until 2025, since the plane hasn’t been certified yet. It’s probably also optimistic.

Currently, Airways plans to take delivery of nine Boeing 737 MAX 8s that were intended for Russia’s S7 Airlines. Whether these planes fit Qatar Airways’ long-term strategy remains to be seen.

As for narrow body aircraft, I am curious to see how things play out. All but nine of the airline’s narrow body jets will only be delivered between 2025 and 2026. Considering that the airline probably wants more of these jets, I wonder if some adjustments might be made to those orders. The carrier currently operates 29 Airbus A320 narrow body aircraft.

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