When is QR getting rid of the A300-600s?

[Asianlonghaul]

I see Qatar still has some cargo A300s, when will these be phased out? Also when do the new Australian routes start and where will they fly? I heard MEL but what else in Australia? Any plans for SYD or BNE?

[Capt Krunch]

Not getting rid of the A300-600 freighters anytime soon.

destinations in Auz = Melbourne and Sydney.


Poisoned by compromise
Krunch

[Asianlonghaul]

Many thanks thats very helpful Capt K! Do you know when the MEL & SYD flights start? Also what are the A300 Cargo destinations, I have seen the Aircraft in Milan?

[A300Man]

AB6 Cargo routes (as outlined on the QR Cargo website):

http://www.qrcargo.com/images/cargoRoutes.gif

Note that some of the cargo destinations are mainline passenger services offering belly cargo capacity. The AB6 freighter routes are specifically highlighted.

[Asianlonghaul]

It looks as if the A300 fleet is three aircraft. Any ideas on if the fleet will grow? If Qr are getting 777F's will these cause the A300s to be phased out?

[A300Man]

ALH,

All three A300 freighters in the QR fleet used to fly as passenger aircraft (AFB for KAL and the other two in the QR fleet) (A7-AFB / ABX / ABY.) There are no plans to increase the AB6 freighter fleet but the current 3 aircraft will remain for a few more years to supplement the new 777F fleet (unless of course the bottom falls out of the cargo market, in which case the retiral of the A300's may be expedited).

[Emma Gemma]

I miss doing QR001 on the AB6!

[MAN330-300]

QR001/2 service on the AB6 must have been at least 5 years ago now.

[Capt Krunch]

yes.. it has certainly been a bit more than 5 years since any AB6 operated QR001.. gone are the days when the 10 A300-600's were the queen of the fleet.. the primo suprimo. best routes, layovers.. we used to have it all.. LOL

I still recall when the A300-600 were in white livery, before someone came up with the battleship grey scheme.. changed a couple times since then, but in the end it's the SSDD isn't it.

Poisoned by Compromise
Krunch

[MAN330-300]

Yes I remember seeing a white Airbus at Doha a few years ago. The AB6 also served MAN for a short time. I first went on a Orion AB6 back in the mid 80s when I was around 8 years old I think that was my first trip on wide body aircraft. There are not to many in the skies these days.

[Emma Gemma]

A very long time ago! Longer than five years ago. I think one of the last flights for QR001 with AB6 was around May in 2002. The first A330 came around middle of May.

I think AFA and AFC were white, weren't they?

[Capt Krunch]

There are not to many in the skies these days.

Well, in the big scheme of things they are fading away.. but JAL still operates 22, American Airlines still has 17, UPS operates 53, and FedEx has a whopping 137... FedEx was given the last production model off the Airbus line in July 2007 when they officially stopped producing the A300's.

Emma:
I seem to only recall ABV in white.. when I started we only had 5 white machines, the other 5, AB6's came soon after, as did the A330.. but that was reserved for the company Hierarchy to fly.... at first.. :}

Poisoned by compromise
Krunch

[Emma Gemma]

Capt Krunch,

Are you sure it was only one? I remember seing two on the stand together once! Or perhaps my memory is pulling my leg?

I can't remember how many AB6 they had when I joined. I think they had four at the time and another one came when I was in training! But, they were coloured... :p

[Emma Gemma]

In October, 2009! All on their homepage!

[Capt Krunch]

Are you sure it was only one? I remember seing two on the stand together once! Or perhaps my memory is pulling my leg?


yes, I flew 3 different reg. in white Qatar Airways livery,, but the only one I can recall is ABV.. sadly a few years ago (3 or 4) it was burned alive in AUH while in the hangar for routine maintenance.:{ I grey livery at the time.

Poisoned by Compromise
Krunch

[Emma Gemma]

Krunch,

I misunderstood you! I thought you meant that you only remembered ONE in total. I heard about that fire in Abu Dhabi and it's really sad. Which one was it that always had problems with the AC? It was like being in a sauna!

[A300Man]

QR's original A300-600's:

ABN - 3 class (Full colours)
ABO - 3 class (Full colours)
ABP - 3 class (later re-registered as AFA)***

Then came:

ABV - 3 class (Full colours)
ABW - 3 class (Full colours)

Then:

ABX - 2 class (Full colours)
ABY - 2 class (Full colours)

Followed by:

AFA - 2 class (White colours, then full colours)***
AFB - Freighter (Full colours)
AFC - 2 class (Initially white colours, then Full colours)
AFD - 2 class (Initially white colours, then Full colours)

Converted to freighter and retained by QR:

ABX
ABY

*** Interestingly, QR withdrew ABP from service and prepared the aircraft for return to it's next lessor, being CityBird of Belgium, around 1999 or 2000, if I am not mistaken. The aircraft was decommissioned from QR service, went to GAMCO (I think) in AUH for painting into full CityBird green colours and then flew back to Doha for final preparations before being flown to Brussels. However, two days before the scheduled transfer of ABP to CityBird, that carrier collapsed and ABP was left in Doha for a couple of weeks until a decision was made by the leasing company (AWACS, I believe) as to it's fate. In a bizarre twist, QR decided to lease the aircraft back! So, if it went again to Abu Dhabi where it was re-painted back into QR colours (this time, the basic white colours) and returned to Doha for re-entry in QR service, but this time was re-registered as AFA. (So, ABP and AFA were in fact the same aircraft but with different regsns.) It was several months (perhaps a year) before the aircraft was fully painted in the full QR grey colours once again.

Great aircraft...................I flew so many times on the QR001 on A300 aircraft and in fact recall once in 2002 when the regular A330 (ACA, I think) went sick at the last moment and ABO was reinstated for one day as the QR001 aircraft and I was lucky enough to be flying to London that day. (with Rosalina as the CSD...................those were the days!!)

[Asianlonghaul]

Any latest news on the fate of the A300-600F fleet?

[Daft Wader]

Believe that there is no current plan to get rid of the A300 Fleet , even when the B777F start to arrive in 2010.

Start date for MEL is I think isDec 6th

May the farce be with you

Daft Wader
:ok:

[Asianlonghaul]

Thanks Darft. Once the 777F's arrive surely it would be more cost effective to get rid of the A300s. Even EK got rid of their A310s. Lets see. A year in aviation is a long time.

[Emma Gemma]

They are a working horse!

[airmemphis]

Sydney launches at the start of Summer 2010. The 5th B77L arrives in JAN10 and 6th in FEB10. The aircraft will be deployed on a daily DOH-SYD-DOH from 28MAR10 (notwithstanding any further changes).