WAITING FOR AIRBUS Qatar cuts routes

Posted on 05/10/2016 | About Jakarta, Indonesia

Qatar Airways has confirmed that the airline is making selective flight cancellations in several markets because of a delay in Airbus aircraft deliveries. The route cuts include Adelaide, its most recently launched schedule.

No details were available which aircraft types and deliveries are delayed. 

The Doha-based carrier introduced a daily Doha-Adelaide route using A350 XWBs on May 3. 

Airbus reportedly said it did not comment on delivery schedules but did say its delivery guideline for 50 A350 XWBs in 2016, which had been announced in January is still valid. 

Qatar, which became the A350 XWB launch customer in 2015, is the first airline to fly the A350 to Australia, Group CEO Akbar Al Baker said in a statement. 

According to its website, Qatar has seven A350-900s in operation. It is also the launch customer for the stretched version, the A350-1000, which is scheduled to be delivered in 2017.

Executive communications manager Christine Sarkis said the airline is minimizing the impact on passengers as much as possible and accommodating them on other flights. 

Reuters reported there are 15 additional routes affected by selective flight cancellations—including Boston, Houston and Miami in the US, and services to Copenhagen, Jakarta and Manchester. 

Qatar also announced that as of July 01 it will introduce the Airbus A380 on its daily Doha-Guangzhou (China) service. Guangzhou will be Qatar’s fourth A380 destination, after London, Paris and Bangkok. Qatar operates a fleet of 184 aircraft to more than 150 destinations.