Qatar and Airbus

[A300Man]

AAB speaks of increasing the order quantity for A350 aircraft from 60 to 80, where QR will still remain as launch customer. Additionally, he also makes reference to QR possibly taking up the A380 production slots vacated by UPS in their recent decision to cancel their A380 order.

Good luck guys in Doha. You are gonna need it.

http://www.hemscott.com/news/latest-news/item.do?newsId=40598178369796

[salamalikum2]

Before even thinking of buying new aircrafts, he should start thinking how to keep the crews from leaving the company....
If you want to build up a beautifull house(Q.A.),you should start by strong foundation(crew) before even thinking to go further...!!

[captin2pac]

He wants to fly them by banana gas fuel :rolleyes:

[gnadirs]

Well, if manpower would be available in the same amounts as there is JET A QR would not be having the problems they have right now, would they!

Ordering airplanes without having the pilots/crews to operate them is as useless as tits on a bull!

I am starting to think that QR management on the 9th floor is led to believe that there is no shortage of crew, that everything is running smoothly in flight ops and that that rumour of 40+ pilots waiting to go to EY is just that, a rumour!

I guess thats what you get when you try to run an organisation by fear...

[loc22550]

was thinking the same...Don´t forget that NOTHING has been confirmed and signed yet!!
IT´s just a "planning"....
Now a lot a channel are talking about Q.A. just because of that ....:ugh:
Maybe a new method to try to attact some crew....

[Panama Jack]

The spending sprees don't surprise me much (after all, Qatari money is only pumped out of the ground and sent on the conveyor belt to the airport), however, the following article sure grabbed my attention:

LONDON, March 14 (Reuters) - Qatar Airways plans to become the first airline in the world to fuel its aircraft with natural gas, the company's chief executive said in an interview on Wednesday.

Akbar al-Baker told Reuters the state-owned airline was talking to oil giant Royal Dutch Shell Plc and engine manufacturers about using a form of diesel made from natural gas, known as GTL, or Gas-to-Liquids fuel, in its planes.

"We are talking to Shell and as soon as the engine manufacturers have certified their engines to be used with GTL, Qatar Airways will be the first airline to fuel its airplanes with GTL," al-Baker said.

"I was told they would get certification by the end of the year," he added.




http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=correctionsNews&storyID=2007-03-15T074810Z_01_L14511245_RTRIDST_0_QATARAIRWAYS-GAS-INTERVIEW-CORRECTED.XML

[Qatari515]

Well, its not all that difficult to understand.
1) JET A fuel is not rafined in Qatar. So although Qatar has a big oil reserve, it still has to ship the crude oil to somewhere else to get it converted to JETA after which it is being shipped back here. So all in all, it still is rather expensive, even for QR.

2) Imagine if QR could get that diesel-GTL fuel certified for airplanes! Not only could the whole QR fleet fly on this fuel, Qatar could sell this fuel as well as the copyright of the certification and procede al oover the world in view of the shortage of crude oil!

3) Guess which country is profiling itself as the largest producer of what they claim is the most environmental friendly fuel.....RIGHT! QATAR!

So if they ( QR and QATAR) can pull this one off, its a win win situation no mater how you look at it!

Qatar will just become even richer, and so will the illustreous AAB!!

Who says our creator ( whoever that may be...:cool: ) designed a fair and honest world....:mad:

[Panama Jack]

Qatari515, all of what you have said makes excellent sense, the thing that surprises me is that Mr. Al-Baker makes it sound like from a technology and certification point of view this is not going to be a big deal. Maybe he is right, the news just got me by surprise.

The question is whether it will happen on such an ambitious schedule, and what will the logistics be for QR aircraft "downroute" (will they need the same type of Petroleum fuel or can they also use Jet A)?

From an environmental and profit point of view, of course it makes sense. Many countries are looking at alternative energy sources. Just read in my newspaper a few days ago that in my home country our president signed an international agreement to begin mass-producing ethanol. The problem with this is that with sugar cane being redirected to your fuel tanks, rum will be going up in price.

[Wiley]

Question: what will Qatari aircraft do for fuel in every other airport in the world where JetA is all that's available? Will the modified engines be capable of running on any proportion/mix of the diesel/gas derivitive and JetA?

Sounds awfully like a media soundbite grab rather than a serious proposition to my only semi-technical ears.

[Hebrick]

Well said 'Wiley'
This might be by first post, and have been reading the forum on and off for a couple of months..but very well laid point...
cheers