By Mohammad Shoeb
DOHA: Qatar Airways is expected to add over 30 new aircraft to its fleet in 2016, Akbar Al Baker (pictured), Group Chief Executive of Qatar’s national carrier said yesterday.
“We are expecting the delivery of some 31 aircraft this year provided all the delivery programme is on schedule,” Al Baker told The Peninsula on the sidelines of a press conference held by Hamad International Airport to announce a partnership agreement with German football club, FC Bayern Munich.
Al Baker added: “We are already delayed with the delivery of Airbus A320 variants; two of them we were supposed receive last year.”
Qatar Airways has about 324 aircraft on order. Of them, 187 to be delivered by Airbus and the rest 137 are to come from Boeing. These orders include 80 Airbus A320 Neo; 100 Boeing 777X and 7 Airbus A380-8007.
About the delivery of A380 (dubbed as Superjumbo), he said that Qatar Airways is expecting to receive one more A380 in December this year and one in January 2017.
On the possibility of new orders, Al Baker declined to comment.
The airline has achieved a phenomenal route expansion averaging 30 percent growth year-to-year and flying one of the most modern fleet of 158 aircraft in the skies today.
On passenger growth, he said: “We are still growing at the double-digit rate and I still have more than two months to go before we close (for the current financial year)… But we are expecting to give very-very interesting figures.”
On the issue of terminal access restriction faced by Qatari Airways at New York’s John F Kennedy Airport, he said: “The option of exiting from Oneworld is not a threat but a fact. This is a partnership. But there are people who do not want partnership, so what is the whole exercise all about? However, Qatar Airways is still committed to the Oneworld alliance until we find that it is huge uphill way for us, and it is only a ‘one-way street’. It has to be a two-way.”
On the acquisition plans of Royal Air Maroc (RAM) and India’s Indigo, he said: “Yes, we are negotiating with them and hopefully you (media) will get to know when we decide.”
The Peninsula
