Qatar Airways is in advanced talks with Boeing to buy up to 30 narrow body planes and will not rule out additional cancellations of delayed deliveries from rival Airbus, the airline's chief executive said on Monday.
Qatar earlier this year cancelled its first delivery of the narrow body Airbus A320neo jet due after delays in delivery and has said it must source alternate planes to meet demand.
"We are quite advanced" in talks with Boeing Akbar al-Baker told journalists at the Farnborough Airshow. "It's between 25 and 30 aircraft, a combination of the two," he said, referring to the current 737NG model and the successor 737 MAX.
Asked if a deal might be signed this week at the Farnborough Airshow, he said he didn't know. "We still have a few things to iron out."
Al Baker said there had been no progress in the dispute with Airbus on A320s and it was not clear if there would be additional cancellations. He said he hoped to get a second A350 of 11 by the end of the month despite a delay.