This was actually revealed several weeks back, but somehow I missed it. I still wanted to cover this, and talk about the implications…
In this post:
Qatar Airways’ Airbus aircraft order reinstated
For well over a year, Qatar Airways and Airbus were engaged in a major dispute regarding problems that the airline was having with its Airbus A350s.
This caused a major issue between the two companies — Qatar Airways grounded these jets over safety concerns and refused to take delivery of more aircraft until this was resolved, while Airbus claimed the issues were cosmetic, and canceled Qatar Airways’ future aircraft order, over breach of contract.
Fortunately the two companies reached a settlement in February 2023. While this meant that the two companies would no longer be suing one another and would work toward putting Qatar Airways’ A350s back into service, it wasn’t initially clear to me what this meant for Qatar Airways’ aircraft order.
Fortunately it’s good news, because as part of this agreement, Qatar Airways’ aircraft order with Airbus has been fully reinstated:
- Qatar Airways will take delivery of a further 23 Airbus A350-1000s, complementing the 19 of these aircraft already in the fleet; these deliveries should resume as of late 2023
- Qatar Airways will take delivery of 50 Airbus A321neos, which will be used to refresh the carrier’s short haul fleet; unfortunately Qatar Airways lost its delivery slots, and these planes will now be delivered starting in 2026
This is great news for Qatar Airways & passengers
Qatar Airways is known for its great passenger experience, though admittedly A350s being grounded has caused some major struggles for the airline in terms of fleet consistency, and the availability of Qsuites. With so many A350s grounded, the airline has had to bring back aircraft that were supposed to be retired, and also lease planes from other airlines.
It’s great that Qatar Airways is now putting grounded A350s back into service, and will also take delivery of more new A350s with Qsuites. The airline hasn’t been reconfiguring many planes with new cabins lately due to its aircraft shortage, so hopefully with more planes reentering service, the airline can also speed up its cabin refresh project.
The narrow body fleet situation continues to be more of an issue. Qatar Airways was supposed to start taking delivery of A321neos in 2023, though that has now been pushed back by three years, until 2026.
Now, while Qatar Airways and Airbus were engaged in their dispute, Qatar Airways did order 25 Boeing 737 MAX 10s. However, the 737 MAX 10 hasn’t even been certified yet, and Qatar Airways deliveries for those jets aren’t expected before 2025. That’s probably optimistic as well.
For the time being, Qatar Airways plans to take delivery of nine Boeing 737 MAX 8s in the coming months, which were intended for Russia’s S7 Airlines. It remains to be seen what kind of a product these planes have, and how that fits into Qatar Airways’ long term strategy.
I’m curious to see how the narrow body aircraft situation plays out. The airline potentially now has 84 cutting edge narrow body jets on the way, but all but nine will only be delivered in 2025-2026. I can’t help but wonder if we might see some adjustments to those orders, since that seems like more of these jets that the airline probably wants. For context, the carrier’s narrow body fleet currently consists of just 29 Airbus A320s.
Bottom line
Qatar Airways’ full order of Airbus jets has been reinstated, including 23 A350-1000s and 50 A321neos. While the A350s should be delivered as of later in 2023, the A321s will only be delivered starting in 2026, so they’ll be at least a few years late.
It’s exciting that Qatar Airways will soon get more A350s, as it should lead to more product consistency for the airline. The challenge is going to be managing the narrow body fleet, as the airline now has 75 Airbus and Boeing single aisle jets on order, all due to be delivered starting in a few years.
What do you make of Qatar Airways’ Airbus order?
Just like I said when the serialised drama was unfolding, just because they cancelled the order originally doesn’t mean they can’t re-instate it and continue like nothing ever happened! And here we are!
I took the A350-1000 on QR recently and found the passenger experience to be much more dismal than before. Before, seats were a good 18 inches or so wide. It's now clear that this is about 17 inches across, similar to the seats on the 777.
Shame. I had always looked to booking A350s rather than 787/777 for that small but extra comfort, since it does make a difference when flying long haul. I've always...
I took the A350-1000 on QR recently and found the passenger experience to be much more dismal than before. Before, seats were a good 18 inches or so wide. It's now clear that this is about 17 inches across, similar to the seats on the 777.
Shame. I had always looked to booking A350s rather than 787/777 for that small but extra comfort, since it does make a difference when flying long haul. I've always been a QR fan so it was kind of disappointing to me. Anyone else remember his claim that QR didn't need PE because their Y was so good it was akin to PE? Yeah..... no. Not anymore.
So you want to say that Qatar Airways has replaced their 18 inch wide seats with 17 inch wide seats on the A350-1000s. When did that reconfiguration take place?
Akbar Al Baker said in an interview that he finds "one crack" on any of the A350's or A321's he will ground the entire airbus fleet and file another lawsuit
I believe that Qatar airways always careful about passenger’s safety , and appreciated Qatar Airways courage to notify a large conglomerates about the production default.
I am sure this legal notice will be accounted the Airbus and careful for future delivery.
Anyway this is good news for passengers that problem is resolved
and appreciated Qatar Airways courage to notify a large conglomerates about the production default.
LOL, what kind of sucking up is that?
As we learned from the suit, Qatar wasn't the first carrier to have the issue and notify Airbus. That'd be Finnair.
So what does this mean for the leased Cathay planes and the a380s they brought back for certain routes? Are the current a350s “safe” for Qatar to fly now?
A350 has the best Q Suites layout. Glad to see this happen.
So was the original unsightly surface degradation issue on Qatar's A350 aircraft actually fixed/repaired, or will the affected aircraft go back into operation still looking like eyesores?
As the launch customer for both the A350-900 and -1000, Qatar Airways was not only a large customer for the A350 but also a very symbolic thorn in the side of Airbus by claiming that the planes were defective.
It is known that other airlines had surface degradation issues w/ their A350s, esp. early production versions, but they all managed to work quietly with Airbus to resolve them. There are documented cases of surface...
As the launch customer for both the A350-900 and -1000, Qatar Airways was not only a large customer for the A350 but also a very symbolic thorn in the side of Airbus by claiming that the planes were defective.
It is known that other airlines had surface degradation issues w/ their A350s, esp. early production versions, but they all managed to work quietly with Airbus to resolve them. There are documented cases of surface degradation on the B787 and an American 787 suffered a nasty lightning strike; both the A350 and B787 have carbon fiber reinforced polymer wings and fuselage with the highest percentage of the lightweight alternative to traditional aluminum aircraft construction. While CFRP's lighter weight and lower long-term maintenance costs are attractive, the material is more expensive to build and has very different characteristics with lightning. Qatar Airways' claim that the A350 was not safe during lightning due to the surface degradation issue hit at the heart of all new generation aircraft.
Airbus faced a significant loss in orders and revenues for the A350 with the cancellation of the remaining Qatar aircraft and the grounding and potential removal from service of dozens of existing A350s. Airbus appeared to overcome the stigma of the A350 with new orders including from Air India that favored the A350 numerically over Boeing's widebodies.
Airbus is increasing production of the A350 closer to pre-covid levels. While the pandemic shook the confidence of airlines around the world to order expensive longhaul aircraft, the reopening of global travel has resulted in a surge in demand that many airlines believe can be sustained. With the B777X the real competitor to the A350 and deliveries of Boeing's largest twin several years away, Airbus appears ready to capture orders for new large widebodies with its A350 which is already proven and flying.
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Airbus appeared to overcome the stigma of the A350
What "stigma?"
It was just one obnoxious loudmouth whom, if we'll remember from 2013-2015, had already annoyed the hell out of both manufacturers to the point of litigation, by refusing to take delivery of aircraft because he didn't like how the carpet patterns (that HE CHOSE) looked IRL.
Multiple airlines were working on the issue with Airbus since Finnair first reported skin degradation in 2016,...
Airbus appeared to overcome the stigma of the A350
What "stigma?"
It was just one obnoxious loudmouth whom, if we'll remember from 2013-2015, had already annoyed the hell out of both manufacturers to the point of litigation, by refusing to take delivery of aircraft because he didn't like how the carpet patterns (that HE CHOSE) looked IRL.
Multiple airlines were working on the issue with Airbus since Finnair first reported skin degradation in 2016, and the majority of them placed followup orders within that time frame.
There was no "stigma" other than in AAB's head.
Qatar had an issues with surface degradation on their 787s before they mentioned issues with the A350s. Al Baker himself mentioned in front of journalists, that Qatar sought advise from another manufacturer, who is selling a similar composite airliner like A350, in regard to the surface degradation on their A350s.
This sounds more like somebody called in the favors for helping to lift the sanctions impost of QATAR by Saudi Arabia and others to...
Qatar had an issues with surface degradation on their 787s before they mentioned issues with the A350s. Al Baker himself mentioned in front of journalists, that Qatar sought advise from another manufacturer, who is selling a similar composite airliner like A350, in regard to the surface degradation on their A350s.
This sounds more like somebody called in the favors for helping to lift the sanctions impost of QATAR by Saudi Arabia and others to ensure the QATAR's new freighter isn't an A350F. The time frame for the paint saga coincides too much with QATAR's freighter decision.
QATAR is now at a disadvantage due to the loss of their Airbus production slots. They are also lucky Airbus didn't take advantage of the court judgment and sold their A350s to another customer.
The decision to get Boeing freighters must have been made above AAB's pay grade, AAB was only the pawn responsible to delivering the reasoning for getting/financing the 777-8F development. There is almost nobody other then the Emir himself in the state of Qatar, who can make a decision of this magnitude.
It also looks like Qatar will take some 737 Max 8s that were meant to go to S7, coming in the next few months.
https://www.aerotime.aero/articles/qatar-airways-first-boeing-737-max-spotted-in-full-colors
@ AnishReddi -- Great point, thanks! I updated the post to reflect that.