Pandemic doesn't stop deliveries, three new A350/1000s for Qatar Airways
Generally when you buy a car, you pay a down payment at the time of booking and the balance upon delivery. It happens [...]
Generally when you buy a car, you pay a down payment at the time of booking and the balance upon delivery. It happens much the same when you buy an airplane.
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Right now, because of Covid and the crisis that is hitting the aviation world and beyond hard, companies are trying to delay aircraft deliveries as much as possible by asking Airbus and Boeing to postpone the time of takeover.
That is why seeing 3 flagships delivered in a single day at this time is news that gives us hope that sooner or later we will be able to return to what is effectively the flagship of the made-in-Airbus fleet, namely the A350/1000.
Companies plan years in advance to bring new aircraft into service, either to expand the network or to replace aircraft that are no longer economical to operate, as was the case, for example, with the grounding of a great many Airbus A380s e Boeing 747 by numerous companies around the world.
Qatar Airways plans to receive 30 Boeing 787-9s, 50 Boeing 777-9s and another 25 Airbus A350-1000s over the next few years, like the ones delivered yesterday. Obviously these orders were meant for a market that continued to grow and instead from January 2020 everything has changed and according to Akbar Al Baker, CEO of the Doha-based company, to return to 2019 traffic levels will have to wait until 2024.
A total of 52 A350s are in service for the company right now, and most of the fleet is equipped with the QSuite, or business chairs recognized as the best in the world.
Have you ever flown in Qatar's QSuite? Tell us about it in the comments.
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