Qatar Airways orders five Boeing 777F freighters

Qatar Airways Cargo Boeing 777F. Photo: © Lars Steffens

In a press conference at the Paris Air Show, Qatar Airways CEO Akbar al Baker has announced that the airline has placed an order for five Boeing 777F freighter aircraft, to join its active fleet of 15 777F’s and in addition to its outstanding order for an additional six. Deliveries from this latest order will start in 2020.

The order marks a 20% increase in Qatar’s cargo fleet, which also consists of two Boeing 747-8f and eight Airbus A330-200F, with another eight A330F’s on lease. This new order has a market value of US $1.8 billion at list prices.

Al Baker also stated that it would be looking to replace its cargo fleet by 2025, as the airline likes to keep a very young fleet. The airline’s CEO also said that Qatar would be delighted to be the launch customer for a freighter version of the Boeing 777X, if and when it’s announced by Boeing. Kevin McAllister, President and CEO of Boeing Commercial Airplanes said that at this time, Boeing are focusing exclusively on the passenger version of the 777X, the first test aircraft of which is still yet to fly.

The first flight of the 777X (777-9 variant) was originally planned for late June, but has been delayed to ‘fall 2019’ due to problems with the General Electric GE9X engines that will power the worlds largest twin engine airliner.

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