Sky-high ambitions: Qatar Airways gets first A350 XWB

Airline chief describes delivery as ‘second significant fleet milestone’


Afp December 13, 2014

DUBAI: Government-owned Qatar Airways took delivery of the first A350 XWB (extra wide body) next-generation plane from European maker Airbus on December 22.

With orders for 80 of the planes – designed to compete with US rival Boeing’s long-haul fuel-efficient jetliners – Qatar Airways is not only the launch customer but also the largest single customer of the A350 so far.

Qatar Airways Chief Akbar al-Baker has described the delivery of the A350 XWB as the “second significant fleet milestone” for the carrier after recently receiving three of 14 A380 superjumbo planes bought from Airbus.

The first commercial Qatar Airways A350 flight is scheduled for January 15 to Frankfurt, the hub of Lufthansa, one of the major opponents of the push by the Gulf carriers into Europe.

The airline is growing its fleet of 142 young planes at full throttle. At Britain’s Farnborough Air Show in July, it also ordered 100 Boeing 777X aircraft, adding tht it has total orders for more than 340 aircraft with a value of $70 billion.

In April, Qatar opened its long-delayed Hamad International Airport, which cost $15.5 billion and has an initial capacity of 30 million passengers a year.

Having a deep pocket means the airline can ensure the fleet stays young, which might make it tough for less nimble competitors with older planes and higher costs.

European airlines, notably Air France-KLM and Lufthansa, have voiced concern at increased activity by Gulf-based companies, complaining of differences in taxation that they say cause unfair competition.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 14th, 2014.

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COMMENTS (2)

Jim Baughman | 9 years ago | Reply

I had to laugh out loud when I read this in the article:

"European airlines, notably Air France-KLM and Lufthansa, have voiced concern at increased activity by Gulf-based companies, complaining of differences in taxation that they say cause unfair competition."

This is what the "free market" is all about. Government subsidies have kept all three of these European carriers afloat in hard times--now they are crying foul when the tables are turned.

The "free market" is about as free as the "free lunch".

Baloch Insafian | 9 years ago | Reply

Pakistan Zindabad.

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