• Qatar Airways Airbus A350-1041A7-ANN
    Qatar Airways
    IATA/ICAO Code:
    QR/QTR
    Airline Type:
    Full Service Carrier
    Hub(s):
    Doha Hamad International Airport
    Year Founded:
    1993
    Alliance:
    oneworld
    CEO:
    Akbar Al Baker
    Country:
    Qatar

Qatar Airways is keen to retire its Airbus A380 aircraft as soon as feasible. While the airline cannot ground its fleet due to capacity needs, Group CEO Akbar Al Baker made it clear to Simple Flying that there is no long-term future for the giant of the skies in his fleet.

Several airlines were keen to bring the Airbus A380 back into service as the aviation industry’s recovery progressed. However, others would rather not fly the giant jet and chose its return as the lesser of two evils. Qatar Airways is one of these airlines, calling the giant’s return “reluctant” at the time.

No future for the A380 at Qatar

There is no long-term future for the Airbus A380 in the Qatar Airways fleet as far as Al Baker is concerned. Asked by Simple Flying, Al Baker reiterated that the Airbus A380 was his biggest mistake, stating that this is why the airline had previously written the fleet off.

Akbar Al Baker poses with a model of a Qatar Airways Airbus A380.
Al Baker calls the Airbus A380 his biggest mistake. Photo: Getty Images

“Due to the grounding of the A350s by our regulator and me having a shortage of capacity, my only alternative was to recommission them at a high cost… I need the volume, and I need the capacity, but as soon as I start getting deliveries of my airplanes and we get enough capacity, we will ground [the A380s].”

A lack of spare parts

Expanding on his answer, Al Baker revealed that securing spare parts for existing A380s is becoming harder since Airbus pulled the plug on the largest commercial passenger aircraft. He commented,

“For our information, out of the eight that we commissioned to fly, we only fly seven. We keep one spare because today, you have difficulty getting spares for them because of the supply chain. [Airbus] stopped producing them, so there is no more incentive to make spares.”

Airbus has already delivered the last A380 to be built. Photo: Emirates

What will replace the A380?

As mentioned above, Al Baker suggested that the A380 would be grounded as soon as additional aircraft deliveries were allowed. Qatar Airways has over 100 aircraft due to be delivered, though none of these deliveries are currently possible.

According to ch-aviation.com, 19 Airbus A350-1000 aircraft are outstanding. The A350 is why Qatar is short on capacity, as the Qatari regulator has grounded double digits. As long as the feud between Airbus and Qatar moves through the UK high court, these deliveries will not occur.

Qatar is also keen to take delivery of the Boeing 777-9, the latest iteration of the 777 family. Boeing isn’t expecting to deliver the first of these until 2025, though Al Baker is keen that he takes the first one. The Boeing 777-8, also on order, is further down the line.

A Boeing 777X in the manufacturer's livery is seen flying at the 2022 Farnborough Airshow.
Photo: Tom Boon | Simple Flying

That just leaves the Boeing 787-9. So far, Qatar Airways has taken delivery of just seven of these, leaving 23 orders outstanding. While Boeing hasn’t delivered a 787 in over a year, it believes that deliveries will resume sooner rather than later. Al Baker indicated that 11 787s are now overdue. Assuming that these could be delivered relatively swiftly, this would presumably give the airline the capacity needed to scrap the Airbus A380.

Do you agree with Al Baker’s opinion of the Airbus A380? Let us know what you think and why in the comments!