Qatar Airways is sticking with GEnx engines when it comes to powering their Dreamliners.
On July 9, 2019, Qatar Airways and GE Aviation signed several agreements, worth over $5 billion in total. One of the contracts include an order for, assumably, no less than 60 GEnx engines, that are to power the Gulf carrier’s prospective fleet of 30 Boeing 787-9s.
The 787 has two engine options: either GE’s GEnx or Rolls-Royce Trent 1000. Qatar Airways already operates 30 Dreamliners (of 787-8 variant). They too are powered by GEnx engines.
The airline has also opted for GE Aviation TrueChoiceTM Flight Hour agreement to cover the maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) of the GEnxs. Another TrueChoiceTM Flight Hour agreement is to cover MRO services on its GE9X engine fleet. The latter engines have been previously selected to power Qatar’s prospective fleet of 60 Boeing 777X.
While it is unclear when exactly the 777Xs deliveries will start, Qatar Airways has previously revealed that it expects to be among the first customers to receive the brand-new plane. Before Boeing encountered MAX crisis, 777X deliveries were expected to begin in 2019.
The multiple contracts were signed during a ceremony held at the White House (U.S.) Besides Qatar Airways CEO Akbar Al Baker and GE Aviation President and CEO David Joyce, the ceremony was also attended by U.S. President Donald Trump and His Highness Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani, Emir of the State of Qatar.
On July 9, 2019, the U.S. President and the Emir have also agreed on commercial aircraft order. Qatar has agreed to buy “very large numbers” of Boeing commercial planes, the While House has announced.
Agreements with GE Aviation cover aircraft orders that Qatar Airways placed in 2014 (for 60 777Xs) and in 2016 (for 30 787-9s)