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Qatar Airways “will never cancel orders” because of diplomatic issues
June 23rd 2017
Qatar Airways CEO, Akbar Al Baker, said the Doha-based airline would “never cancel orders” because of the diplomatic issues it is facing with the neighbouring governments in Bahrain, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the UAE. Read More »
Qatar Airways has firmed up a previous LoI for 20 B737 MAX 8s, which Al Baker said would replace the airline’s A320ceo fleet. It also has options on another 40 MAXs, the future of which hinges on the launch of a Qatar subsidiary in India and the completion of its 49% investment in Italy’s Merdiana.
Al Baker said his airline also was in talks with Bombardier about a potential CS300. The carrier is negotiating an order conversion from the A320neo to the larger A321neo after it refused to take delivery of the first batch of A320neo aircraft because of shortcomings with the Pratt & Whitney engines powering the A320neo.
Qatar Airways is opting for CFM International engines to power the A321neo order, meaning it is stepping away from ‘delinquent’ Pratt & Whitney for its future single aisle fleet.
The question is where Qatar Airways is planning to deploy its single aisle aircraft, provided that UAE, Saudi Arabian, Egyptian and Bahraini airspace remains closed to all Qatar-registered aircraft.
The carrier had to suspend all flights to Abha (2 daily), Abu Dhabi (6 daily), Bahrain (7 daily), Borg el Arab/Alexandria (10 weekly), Cairo (17 weekly), Dammam (5 daily), Dubai al Maktoum (DWC) 4 daily, Dubai International (DXB) 17 daily, Gassim (2 daily), Al Hofuf (5 weekly), Jeddah (4 daily), Luxor (daily), Madinah (3 daily), Ras al Khaimah (4 weekly), Riyadh (24 weekly), Sharjah (2 daily), Taif (daily) and Yanbu (4 weekly).
“We still need some time, but we will redeploy very soon,” Al Baker said at Le Bourget on Monday. The carrier will accelerate the launch of destinations including Skopje, Ljubljana and Sarajevo, and open more destinations in Iran to use the excess narrow body capacity at the carrier as a result of the diplomatic standoff.
Qatar refers to the situation as a ‘blockade’ but its adversaries said this is not so because aircraft can depart and land at Doha’s Hamad International Airport, albeit with costly diversions through Iranian airspace.
Qatar last week appealed to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) for mediation. Al Baker said “no country has the right to block airspace” and as such the ‘blockade’ represented “an unprecedented illegal act”.
In other Qatar Airways updates, on Thursday the airline announced its intention to purchase at least 4.75% of publicly-traded shares in American Airlines. American CEO, Doug Parker, was quick to send a letter to employees that said his team was "not particularly excited" about this "puzzling" bid. He added it “would in no way change the company’s board composition, governance, management or strategic direction,” a clear reference to the on-going Open Skies dispute between the U.S. and Gulf carriers.
