Qatar Airways which has seen its passenger demand pummelled due to COVID-19 has taken the decision to ground its fleet of Airbus A380s. The carrier will keep its A380 aircraft grounded until passenger demand recovers to appropriate levels.
The airline has said that it is not commercially or environmentally justifiable to operate such a large aircraft in the current market.
Qatar Airways will continue to operate its full fleet of Airbus A350 and Boeing 787 jetliners.
The airline has announced that its A350 fleet will now be the aircraft of choice for the carrier’s most strategically important long-haul routes to the Americas, Europe and Asia-Pacific regions.
Qatar Airways was the launch customer for both the A350-900 and A350-1000 and is the largest operator of A350 series aircraft.
Qatar Airways has a total of 49 A350 variants in the current fleet at an average age of 2.5 years.
The carrier’s 30 Boeing 787s also provide appropriate capacity to offer the right capacity on routes in Europe while markets recover, the airline says.
By the end of July, Qatar Airways has said that its network will expand to more than 450 weekly flights to over 70 destinations worldwide.
“As we rebuild our network, passengers can rely on us to operate an honest schedule of flights to take them where they want to go, using the right size aircraft to offer sensible capacity on each route. As a result, we will not resume flying our fleet of A380 until demand returns to appropriate levels. Having closely studied the environmental impact numbers, flying such a large aircraft with a low load factor does not meet our environmental responsibilities or make commercial sense. Our young fleet of Airbus A350 and Boeing 787 aircraft are a much better fit for current global demand,” said Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive, Akbar Al Baker.
The airline’s internal benchmark compared the A380 to the A350 on routes from Doha to London, Guangzhou, Frankfurt, Paris, Melbourne, Sydney, Toronto and New York. On a typical one-way flight, the airline found the A350 aircraft saved a minimum of 16 tonnes of carbon dioxide per block hour compared to the A380.
The analysis found that the A380 emitted over 80% more CO2 per block hour than the A350 on each of these routes. In the cases of Melbourne, New York and Toronto the A380 emitted 95% more CO2 per block hour with the A350 saving around 20 tonnes of CO2 per block hour.
Qatar Airways relaunched 11 destinations on 1 July including Bali Denpasar, Beirut, Belgrade, Berlin, Boston, Edinburgh, Larnaca, Los Angeles, Prague, Washington DC, and Zagreb.
This marked the largest number of route resumptions in a single day since Qatar Airways started to rebuild its network in what the airline has dubbed ‘Takeoff Wednesday’.
Terma has received a purchase order from the Danish Ministry of Defence Acquisition and Logistics Organisation (DALO) concerning system integration…
Iran has not used a hypersonic missile in its recent attack on Israel, but but Israel has accelerated its efforts…
Toyota Motor Corporation is set to invest an additional $500 million in Joby Aviation, a company focused on developing electric…
LATAM Airlines Group is set to retrofit four more Boeing 777 aircraft with AeroSHARK, a surface film technology designed to…
Boeing successfully completed the first flight of the AH-6 Little Bird light attack helicopter for the Royal Thai Army (RTA)…
At the recent MRO Asia Pacific event in Singapore, HAECO and Boeing signed a new deal to cover spares and…
ST Engineering's Commercial Aerospace business has secured a 15-year exclusive MRO contract with Akasa Air, India’s fastest growing airline, to…
BBN Airlines Indonesia, a new entrant in the country’s aviation sector, has officially commenced operations after receiving its Air Operation…
The French defence procurement agency (DGA) has selected Exail to develop an Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) capable of operating at…
Regional Air Mobility company Lilium has completed the first systems power-on milestone of its all-electric Lilium Jet. The successful test…
Embraer has signed an Industrial Cooperation Agreement (ICA) with the Czech Ministry of Defense (MOD). The strategic agreement aimsto enhance…
Plaza Premium Group (PPG), a provider of airport hospitality services, has opened its Plaza Premium First lounge at Macau International…
HENSOLDT, a sensor solution provider, has partnered with DFS, the German air navigation service provider, to advance the use of…
The continued clashes between Israel and the Houthi rebels in Yemen signal that the Suez Canal and the Red sea…
Pratt & Whitney, an RTX business, has officially opened a new 845,000-square-foot facility in Oklahoma City, marking the company’s largest…
Cebu Pacific, a low-cost carrier based in the Philippines, has finalised a firm order with Airbus for 70 A321neo aircraft,…
In view of the growing tension between Israel and some of the Iranian proxies in the region, the Israeli ministry…
The Indo Defence, Indo Aerospace, and Indo Marine 2024 Expo & Forum, which was originally set to take place from…
The Franco-German defence group KNDS, a key partner of the Ukrainian land forces, has established a subsidiary in Kyiv. The…
Deutsche Aircraft has announced a partnership with Weerts Group for the construction of its Final Assembly Line (FAL) at Leipzig/Halle…
Savunma Teknolojileri Mühendislik ve Ticaret A.Ş. (STM) and Bahçeşehir University (BAU) are set to develop ocean sensing systems aimed at…
Naval Group has formalised a contract to deliver four Barracuda Family expeditionary submarines to the Netherlands, as announced during a…
Challenge Group has announced the expansion of its operations in India by introducing two weekly flights to Delhi, commencing on…
ECS Group’s subsidiary, AVS GSA, in partnership with Thai Vietjet and Lactasoy, has launched an initiative to assist flood-affected communities…
Liebherr-Aerospace and Egyptair Maintenance & Engineering have signed a three-year contract for the maintenance of heat transfer equipment on Airbus…
Rheinmetall, a German technology group, and US-based Honeywell have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to explore strategic cooperation on…
SATS Ltd has signed a three-year agreement with the International Air Transport Association (IATA) to expand the implementation of DG…
Semi Conductor Devices (SCD) has launched the Sparrow HD, a mid-wave infrared (MWIR) sensor module aimed at improving detection and…
As global air traffic demand exceeds pre-pandemic levels in 2024, airlines are turning their attention to fleet expansion, according to…
In recent months, the Houthi rebels in Yemen, an Iranian proxy, managed to shoot down a number of U.S-made MQ-9…
Headquartered in Singapore with reporters spread across all major regions, GBP Aerospace & Defence is a leading media house that publishes three publications that serve the aerospace and defence sector - Asian Defence Technology, Asian Airlines & Aerospace and Daily News. Known industry-wide for quality journalism, GBP Aerospace & Defence is present at more international tradeshows and exhibitions than any other competing publication in the region.
For over three decades, our award-winning team of reporters has been producing top-notch content to help readers stay abreast of the latest developements in the field of commercial aviation, MRO, defence, and Space.
Copyright 2024. GBP. All Rights Reserved.
Home Defence & Security Space Commercial Aviation Maintence Repair & Overhaul Daily News Events About Us
2024 GBP all rights reserved.