Akbar al-Baker, chief executive officer of Qatar Airways, poses for a photograph in a business-class seat aboard the Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft operated by the airline at the Singapore Airshow yesterday. “We have placed large orders with both Airbus and Boeing and our strategy is to keep our average fleet age very low,” al-Baker told Gulf Times in Doha recently.
By Pratap John/Chief Business Reporter
Qatar Airways’ strategy is to keep its average fleet age “very low” and many of its very large aircraft orders are for replacement of the current fleet, said CEO Akbar al-Baker.
“We have placed large orders with both Airbus and Boeing and our strategy is to keep our average fleet age very low,” al-Baker told Gulf Times in Doha recently.
A Qatar Airways factsheet shows it has more than 280 aircraft on order books worth more than $50bn.
The fleet on order includes 80 Airbus A350s, 51 Boeing 787s (including options), 12 Boeing 777s (including freighters and options), 80 Airbus A320 Neos (including options), 13 Airbus A380-800s (including options) and an Airbus A320.
Currently, the airline has a fleet strength of 129 including both passenger and cargo aircraft from Airbus and Boeing.
Between March and July of this year the airline will fly to eight new destinations. They are Sharjah, (March 1), Dubai World Central, (March 1), Larnaca, Cyprus (April 29), Sabiha Gokcen Airport, Istanbul (May 22), Edinburgh, Scotland (May 28) Philadelphia, US (April 2), Miami, US (June 10) and Dallas/Fort Worth, US (July 1).
Meanwhile, al-Baker yesterday said Qatar Airways, the launch customer for the Airbus A350, expects to receive its first aircraft ahead of scheduled delivery in December 2014.
“They (Airbus) are well ahead of the test schedule,” said al-Baker at the Singapore Airshow, adding that the aircraft could arrive a month or two earlier.
Earlier in Doha, al-Baker had told Gulf Times that Qatar Airways would receive first of the fuel efficient, mid-sized wide-body airliner later this year and nine more in 2015.
“Once Airbus ramps up production we will receive larger numbers of Airbus A350 a year. It will be more than one aircraft a month, starting from 2016. After which we will receive more than two aircraft a month. In 2017, we will start receiving the stretched version A350-1000, for which we are also the launch customer” al-Baker said.
The A350 XWB is a family of mid-sized wide-body airliners designed to enhance fuel, operating costs and environmental efficiencies during medium-to-long haul airline operations. Featuring the very latest in aerodynamics, design and advanced technologies, these highly efficient aircraft provide better fuel efficiency of up to 25%.
Over 70% of the A350 XWB’s weight-efficient airframe is made from advanced materials combining composites (53%), titanium and advanced aluminium alloys.
The airline is also set to receive its first superjumbo (Airbus A380) by April or M ay, according to al-Baker.
“We will receive three superjumbos … one after the other this year,” he told Gulf Times.
Al-Baker told Reuters that the airline was not interested in Airbus’s offer of a higher take-off weight “regional” A330, or Boeing’s 787-10 or 777-8X.
The airline also has 50 Boeing 777-9 on order, but it is not keen on the smaller 777-8, said al-Baker.
