Qatar Airways has announced its plans to reshuffle its fleet and also retire the Boeing 777 aircraft by 2024 which are a backbone of its fleet. The 777s will be replaced with the newer, bigger 777 models that are known collectively as 777X.
According to Qatar Airways chief executive Akbar Al Baker, the decision is part of a strategy to cut emissions.
Currently, Qatar Airways’ fleet contains 57 Boeing 777 aircraft and it will be replaced by 60 new 777X.
Akbar Al Baker said that by 2025, the carrier will only operate the 777X.
The carrier will also defer the delivery of Airbus and Boeing aircraft which were due in 2020 and 2021.
Prior to the coronavirus pandemic, Qatar Airways planned to expand its fleet has ordered aircraft worth billions of dollars. However, the pandemic has forced the carrier to rethink its future plans.
Qatar Airways said that it has no room for new aircraft and will instead shrink its fleet of around 200 jets.
“We had bought it for a particular airline in which we had invested and we have withdrawn our investment from that airline, so we will not require anymore the 737 MAXs,” Al Baker told Sky News.
“Quite a lot of (deliveries) will be deferred. We have already notified both Boeing and Airbus that we will not be taking any aeroplanes this year or next year. All the other aircraft that we have on order that were supposed to be delivered to us within the next two or three years, will now be pushed back to as long as nearly eight to 10 years. We have already informed Boeing that we will have to replace them with some other type of aeroplanes,” he added.