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6th Jun 2006, 17:03
PARIS: Qatar Airways, which had committed to buy 60 A350s from Airbus, may choose Boeing Co’s planes instead for long-haul routes because the European plane-maker hasn’t spelled out what kind of plane it will bring to market.
“We’re not going to wait forever,” Qatar Chief Executive Akbar al-Baker said today in an interview at the International Air Transport Association meeting in Paris. “If things don’t happen in the timeframe we want to happen, then of course we’ll look somewhere else.”
Boeing’s new 787, also a long-range aircraft that will carry between 250 and 300 passengers, is set for entry into service in 2008. Airbus had originally said the A350, which was brought out to challenge the 787, would be ready for service in 2012. The new A350, which may be called the A370, now won’t go into service until 2012 at the earliest.
Airbus spokeswoman Barbara Kracht declined to comment on the Qatar CEO’s remarks. “We don’t comment on our relations with customers,” she said.
Airbus to date has won only 100 firm orders for the current A350 proposal compared with 350 for Boeing Co’s 787. That doesn’t include commitments such as the 60 from Qatar, which would be the single biggest order for the plane.
Airbus is reconsidering the design of the plane and will announce a decision by mid-year, CEO Gustav Humbert said on May 17. Airbus plans to spend $10bn on a new 300-seat plane, three people with direct knowledge of the proposal said this month.
“They’ve changed the rules of the game,” al-Baker said, referring to Airbus. “They now want to build a bigger airplane, with a larger capacity, a bigger cross section and they’ve not yet submitted to us or given us the proposal on what this airplane will do or when it will be delivered.”
The executive said waiting several years more than expected for Airbus’s aircraft would interrupt its expansion plans.
“We as an airline have a business plan. We need to grow. And when there are delays in deliveries, we have to then re-think our fleet strategy. If they don’t have their game in order, then it is their problem.”
“We’re not going to wait forever,” Qatar Chief Executive Akbar al-Baker said today in an interview at the International Air Transport Association meeting in Paris. “If things don’t happen in the timeframe we want to happen, then of course we’ll look somewhere else.”
Boeing’s new 787, also a long-range aircraft that will carry between 250 and 300 passengers, is set for entry into service in 2008. Airbus had originally said the A350, which was brought out to challenge the 787, would be ready for service in 2012. The new A350, which may be called the A370, now won’t go into service until 2012 at the earliest.
Airbus spokeswoman Barbara Kracht declined to comment on the Qatar CEO’s remarks. “We don’t comment on our relations with customers,” she said.
Airbus to date has won only 100 firm orders for the current A350 proposal compared with 350 for Boeing Co’s 787. That doesn’t include commitments such as the 60 from Qatar, which would be the single biggest order for the plane.
Airbus is reconsidering the design of the plane and will announce a decision by mid-year, CEO Gustav Humbert said on May 17. Airbus plans to spend $10bn on a new 300-seat plane, three people with direct knowledge of the proposal said this month.
“They’ve changed the rules of the game,” al-Baker said, referring to Airbus. “They now want to build a bigger airplane, with a larger capacity, a bigger cross section and they’ve not yet submitted to us or given us the proposal on what this airplane will do or when it will be delivered.”
The executive said waiting several years more than expected for Airbus’s aircraft would interrupt its expansion plans.
“We as an airline have a business plan. We need to grow. And when there are delays in deliveries, we have to then re-think our fleet strategy. If they don’t have their game in order, then it is their problem.”