The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Akbar Al Baker has seemingly changed his tone in regards to aircraft orders, as the airline will continue to take aircraft, according to a recently released statement by the CEO.
“We will continue to take every single airplane that we have ordered from the both [Airbus and Boeing – ed. note] manufacturers because in Qatar Airways, we are very prudent in the way we place our aircraft orders and our requirements,“ was quoted as saying on a message on the airline‘s Twitter.
Speaking to the @BBCWorld, our GCEO, H.E. Mr. Akbar Al Baker, said: “We will continue to take every single aircraft that we have ordered from both the manufacturers, because in #QatarAirways we are very prudent in the way we place our aircraft orders and our requirements.” pic.twitter.com/duF3lwbn37
— Qatar Airways (@qatarairways) January 18, 2021
In June 2020, Al Baker stated that it was important for the two manufacturers to “to show to customers that they are not only with them in good times, but they will also be with them in bad times,” as Airbus and Boeing should “accept the requirements by airlines to delay deliveries of airplanes until at least 2022.”
“If they do not oblige, they should also know that will permanently lose us as a customer to them,” Al Baker was quoted as saying.
Throughout 2020, the Doha-based airline took delivery of eight aircraft: five Airbus A350-1000 and three Boeing 777F aircraft. Curiously enough, Qatar Airways accepted four out of the eight on the last day of the year, December 31, 2020.
As of December 31, 2020, the Qatari airline has 50 Airbus A321neo, 23 Airbus A350-1000, two Boeing 777F, 60 Boeing 777X and 23 Boeing 787-9 aircraft on order.
Most recently, when Al Baker spoke during CAPA Live, the chief executive indicated that even if the airline’s Airbus A380 aircraft return to the skies, the airline would operate half of its 10-strong double-decker fleet.