[FDOS_UK]

[quote quote=868233]Valid points Alainboy.

I’m not sure why they selected the DEL route but it seems to be true. BA has DEL based crew and they have been told that QR will operate one of their two daily services in Jun. Nothing confirmed from BA yet….they have stated they will update re the 787 operation in a few days.[/quote]

It could be for convenience for QR, allowing them to rotate airframes more easily – pure speculation.

[rferguson]

[quote quote=868247]

rferguson wrote:

Valid points Alainboy.

I’m not sure why they selected the DEL route but it seems to be true. BA has DEL based crew and they have been told that QR will operate one of their two daily services in Jun. Nothing confirmed from BA yet….they have stated they will update re the 787 operation in a few days.

It could be for convenience for QR, allowing them to rotate airframes more easily – pure speculation.[/quote]

Yes, rotate aircraft and crews.

[rferguson]

KWI, MCT and DEL confirmed today as being operated by QR.

[rferguson]

Well the 787 issues continue and QR had to take back one of their A330’s that had been operating on behalf of BA.

BA has found an interesting airline to step in and fill the gap on an ad hoc basis – Air Belgium. The start up airline hasn’t quite had the rip roaring success of a launch it had hoped with it’s scheduled services from Brussels to HKG. They launched with three weekly services (eventually after several delays) and had planned five weekly although this has already been stripped back to twice weekly. It seems they are finding more lucrative uses for their gas guzzling A340’s – leasing them. They have been operating flights on behalf of AF and will operate some LHR-CAI services on behalf on BA over the coming days. A friend in BA close to the situation tells me this is likely to be extended into the ‘forseeable future’.

[alainboy56]

@rferguson — I think you will find that both QR A332’s have been returned, actually they had three at the outset a few months ago. The last one I read had returned on 22/08, even though I did see it on stand at LHR T5 that very day when I passed though. QR have been running services on behalf on MEA since then with one airframe. I believe another airframe has been retired from QR fleet and is in process of being passed to their subsidiary, Air Italy.
So maybe they don’t have so many spare A332’s anymore.
Btw those Air Belgium A343’s are ex Finnair and relatively new and well cared for. They should be quite suitable for BA Routes, but yes, that is why AY retired them, they are uneconomical these days. They had replaced the MD-11’s on AY Asian routes for a short while and have since been replaced by A332’s and A359’s.
Maybe they were only ever intended to be stopgap substitutes, and that is why they are still relatively new.

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