Business Traveller was part of a media roundtable discussion with Qatar Airways at the Paris Air Show, hearing from its group chief executive, Akbar Al Baker, on the carrier’s fleet, relationship with Airbus and supply chain issues.
The chat kicked off with the topic of Airbus. Earlier this year, the airline reached an amicable settlement with the aircraft manufacturer following a long-running dispute over the carrier’s fleet of A350 aircraft.
The Gulf carrier had grounded over 20 of its widebody A350s due to “concerns surrounding the accelerated rate of fuselage surface degradation”.
At the Paris Air Show, however, Akbar Al Baker commented:
“We are back on very good terms with them. We both know that they are an important supplier for us, and they know we are an important customer… We came to an amicable settlement which is win-win for both sides.”
“We never questioned the safety of Airbus airplanes. We were concerned about the condition [of the A350 fuselage] and Airbus had to fix it. We came to an amicable settlement which is win-win for both sides. I never said it was an unsafe airplane. We wouldn’t be flying the remaining of the A350s if we felt that it was an unsafe airplane.”
The airline lost its original delivery slots on both the A321 neo and A350 due to the clash, but the remaining 18 A350s will be delivered from 2025 onwards.
With regards to the A380s, Al Baker said:
“We have already taken impairment on those airplanes and, over a period of time, we will ground them again. Out of the ten, only eight are back into service. Two are on the ground which we don’t intend to use.”
Al Baker previously said that he expects the A380 aircraft to be operational for three years, after which they will be retired as other aircraft come into service.
When it comes to Boeing, the carrier is set to receive the manufacturer’s delayed 777-9 aircraft from 2025. “If the certification process is expedited then we could get it in the early part of 2025 rather than the second half of 2025,” he added.
The carrier will also receive MAX 10s from the end of next year.
Supply chain issues
Al Baker also spoke of the concerns regarding the supply chain issues that are delaying deliveries of aircraft.
“There is a lot of pressure on the supply chain. The Covid pandemic really destroyed the supply chain of the aircraft manufacturers, and I don’t see how this will be coming back to what it used to be before Covid in the foreseeable future…
“At the moment, both manufacturers are committed to delivering those airplanes to us and we will keep our fingers crossed. They will be under a lot of pressure to deliver the airplanes on time…”
“This [supply chain] stress is going to continue for the foreseeable future for two reasons. One is the raw materials – the conflict between Ukraine and Russia because don’t forget that Russia was one of the main suppliers of titanium. And then the expertise. The professionals that left the job and don’t want to come in to the same job again.”
Network expansion
While there were no new announcements regarding routes at the Paris Air Show, the airline unveiled a raft of new routes and resumptions earlier this year, which we reported on here:
Qatar Airways announces network expansion with possible return to Cardiff
Al Baker updated Business Traveller on the route resumption to Cardiff, stating that it will come “if I’m not mistaken, by the end of the year.”
When questioned about whether the airline felt a competitive threat from Riyadh Air, Al Baker simply responded that there was “none”.
“We have always been competing with big airlines both within the region and outside, and I think we will still compete. I think there’s enough business for everybody to go around.”
