Qatar Airways is in final discussions to close deals for up to 200 A350 and 777X wide-bodies, Bloomberg reported on Sunday. The agreements are expected to be announced during the Farnborough Airshow in July.
The country’s flag carrier, Qatar has been commenting on new orders for the two wide-bodies for some time. The orders should be divided between Airbus and Boeing, but there is no forecast for each.
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Airbus still has 18 A350-1000s pending delivery to Qatar, which is its second largest customer in the world with 58 aircraft, behind only Singapore Airlines.
Qatar and Airbus have become closer after a dispute in court over surface wear problems on around 20 of their A350s that were grounded for months.
777-8F freighters
Regarding the 777X, Qatar has been a customer of the world’s largest twin-engine widebody since 2014, when it ordered 50 jets and another ten planes the following year.
In 2022, the airline expanded orders to include 34 777-8F freighters, reducing the number of 777-9s to 40 aircraft.
The first 777-9 is expected in 2025, but given the delays in Boeing’s aircraft certification program, it is unlikely that this deadline will be met.
Qatar ordered 10 Airbus A380s, but retired two aircraft. The new wide-bodies should allow the double-deck aircraft to be removed from service in the coming years.