Qatar Airways’ chief executive Akbar al-Baker
has gone into a little more depth about the
airline’s future plans. Following predictions
of a long, slow recovery and a 25% reduction
of its fleet, the airline’s leader revealed
that the A380 might not fly for Qatar Airways
again.
The airline has 10 of the type, all of which
have been grounded. Al-Baker said Qatar would
not return the aircraft to service for at
least a year, and possibly never again...
As reported in Executive Traveler, Akbar al-Baker
reaffirmed his stance that the industry would
take two to three years to recover from the
crisis. Speaking at a media briefing, al-Baker
is quoted by Executive Traveler as saying,
“Qatar Airways is parking its 10 A380s and
they will not return for at least a year,
and maybe never.”
The Qatar Airways boss went further in his
grim analysis of the future of travel. According
to Airline Ratings, he predicted that business
travel was to be severely affected by the
COVID-19 crisis, saying that,
“Yields will fall as premium traffic declines.”
As well as this, al-Baker thought the aviation
industry would come back from the crisis with
fewer players than went into it. He predicted
“consolidation and bankruptcies and a huge
reduction in capacity,” as well as more
airlines seeking government support, including
his own.
The A380 in the Qatar Airways fleet was never
a long-term proposition. As a primary user
of the type, Qatar had never planned to keep
the giant jumbos for longer than their 10th
birthday. Indeed, speaking at the Paris Air
Show last year, al-Baker outlined plans to
retire the first of its fleet in 2024. At
the show, he said,
“We feel that the aircraft does not have
a very long future in Qatar Airways’ fleet,
We would think about retiring those aeroplanes
on their 10th anniversary, unless something
untoward happens and we need them.”
Unfortunately, with the current crisis and
its impact on aviation, it seems passengers
could have flown their last trip on the Qatar
Airways superjumbo.
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