The airline has acquired its first new airframe from Airbus since 2020 following a protracted legal dispute over A350 deterioration and a resulting settlement.
Finally, it has happened: Qatar Airways has received its first brand-new Airbus aircraft in about two and a half years. On May 12, a major delivery flight from Toulouse to Doha was made using an A350-1000. It is the 54th A350 overall and the 20th A350-1000 for Qatar Airways.
plane and delivery flight information
The aircraft with the registration A7-ANT departed Toulouse (TLS) on May 12 at 21:29, according to data from FlightRadar24.com. At 04:21 on May 13, the aircraft carrying the flight number QR3181 touched down at Qatar Airways’ main hub, Doha Hamad International (DOH). This delivery flight lasted for a total of five hours and 52 minutes.
According to Aviation Flights statistics, the A350-1000 with manufacturer’s serial number (MSN) 430 had flown 11 times before being delivered, clocking in at close to 16 hours of total flight time. Given that this aircraft was discovered for the first time in March 2020 and made its maiden test flight in November 2021, it is obvious that not all of its pre-delivery flights were true tests. Some of the flights included in the count were used to transport the aircraft into and out of Châteauroux-Centre “Marcel Dassault” Airport (CHR), while other routine flights were made to maintain the airframe’s functionality.
An important step toward restoring normalcy to the situation
The arrival of MSN 430 in Doha is particularly notable because the last new Airbus jet was delivered to the airline in December 2020, even if this may be considered simply one of numerous aircraft deliveries Airbus makes throughout the course of any given week.
Many people who keep up with aviation news are aware of the contentious legal dispute between Qatar Airways and Airbus that raged throughout 2021 and 2022 over the surface deterioration of over two dozen airframes. Although both sides fired off a lot of shots, one that stands out was when Airbus canceled some unfulfilled orders from Qatar, which led to Qatar negotiating a sizeable contract with Boeing.But on February 1st, 2023, an amicable agreement was reached between Qatar Airways and Airbus. All orders placed by Qatar Airways, including those for A350s, were reinstated after the legal case was withdrawn.
How Qatar Airways has managed
Even while the airline will have the capacity it needs to manage a post-pandemic travel environment thanks to new deliveries, Qatar Airways has had to find other solutions over the previous two years. This has involved renting Airbus A330-300s and Boeing 777-300ERs from Oman Air and Cathay Pacific, respectively.
The dispute’s successful resolution for supporters of the Airbus A380 was the return of six A380s to Qatar Airways operations. This summer, the airline is sending the A380 twice daily to Heathrow, as well as to Sydney and Bangkok. While the CEO of Qatar Airways, Akbar al Baker, has publicly stated that he does not believe his A380s have a long-term future, it is evident that the model is proving to be quite helpful for an airport with significant slot limitations, such as London Heathrow.
