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Qatar Airways has signed a Memorandum of Understanding for the purchase up to six Airbus A321 aircraft – four firm and two on option.
The agreement was signed
on Tuesday at the Farnborough International Airshow between Qatar Airways Chief Executive Officer
Akbar Al Baker and Airbus President and Chief Executive Officer Tom Enders.
The four firm aircraft are scheduled for delivery in the near term. Qatar Airways will use the A321s to complement its existing narrow body fleet on
regional routes. These additional aircraft will bring Qatar Airways’ A321 fleet to 14 aircraft. With the addition of these 6 A321 aircraft, Qatar
Airways’ narrow body fleet will increase to 27 aircraft, consisting of 14 A321s, 11 A320s and 2 A319 Long Range aircraft.
Airbus President and Chief Executive Officer Tom Enders
said, “Airbus is very pleased to see Qatar Airways’ commitment to the A320 family
and, in particular, its rapidly growing A321 fleet which is very suited to Gulf and Middle East area operations.
“Qatar Airways’ attention to passenger service is legendary, so we are delighted to have it as a major customer of the A321. We take great
pride of our partnership with Qatar Airways which dates back to its inception in 1992. As Qatar Airways has evolved into a world class airline, our
partnership has grown and prospered, and is now set to continue into the future with our latest aircraft.”
Qatar Airways is currently the largest operator of the A320 family in the Gulf and Middle East region. The Doha-based airline’s current in-service
fleet consists of a total of 19 A320 family variants, 1 A300-600R, 3 A300-600 freighters, 31 A330s, 4 A340-600s, together with 2 Boeing 777-300ER
aircraft. The airline has commitments for 6 A321s (plus 2 options), 25
Boeing 777 (plus 5 options), 30 Boeing 787 (plus 30 options), 80 A350 XWB and 5
A380
aircraft resulting in a consistently young fleet. Qatar Airways is also the launch and largest customer of the
A350
XWB, with deliveries
to the airline set to commence in 2013.
The airline has outstanding orders for more than 200 aircraft worth over US$30 billion. It operates a modern fleet of 62 aircraft to 83 destinations
across Europe, Middle East, Africa, Indian subcontinent, Far East and North America.
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