Qatar Airways to Unveil Conversion of 20 A330s to Freighters

[Iver]

Not sure if people had seen this news blurb about Qatar and the fate of many A330s. You have to admit, Al Baker is a good negotiator and he normally gets what he wants (with the exception of the on-time delivery of the 787s :}). Looks like the A330 pilots will be joining their 777 counterparts and doing a mix of pax and cargo flights.

With the A380s delayed, the A350 not arriving for years (with possible future delays) and the A340-600s likely gone in a few years, I am betting the A330 pilots are happy to continue to fly these birds in a freighter role for years to come - at least until the A350s finally arrive. Of course, given that the older A300-600Fs are still flying, we may see those A330Fs flying for many more years.

Would be interesting to see how these Qatar A330Fs (as well as existing/new 777Fs) link-up with Cargolux 747-4/8s given the new relationship. See the news blurb below:

Qatar Airways to convert up to 20 Airbus A330-200s to freighters (http://worldairlinenews.wordpress.com/2012/05/01/qatar-airways-to-convert-up-to-20-airbus-a330-200s-to-freighters/)

May 1, 2012


May 1 (Reuters) - Qatar Airways, which last year took a big stake in a European freight carrier, will convert up to 20 of its Airbus A330 passenger jets into freighters, its chief executive said on Tuesday. Akbar Al Baker said an announcement could be made at the Farnborough air show in July.

"We are in talks with EFW, negotiations are going on about the delivery schedule. We should be able to come up with something at Farnborough. It should be about 15 to 20 aircraft," he said at a Dubai travel show.

Airbus unveiled the "passenger-to-freight" option for the A330 at the Singapore Air Show in February, in a deal with Singapore's ST Aerospace and EADS EFW of Germany (http://www.reuters.com/places/germany).

The plan involve giving a second life hauling cargo to mid-sized passenger jets. Al Baker had previously threatened to buy converted Boeing 767 aircraft because of a gap in Airbus's cargo strategy.

Qatar Airways, half-owned by sovereign wealth fund Qatar Investment Authority, bought a 35 percent stake in freight carrier Cargolux Airlines International last year.

[Airmann]

It's a good move for the airline.

Although Al-Baker is the type of person you that rubs some people the wrong way with his public tirades of Boeing or airbus, the reality is that he is trying to do what he feels is best for his airline and almost always gets his way. Makes the shareholders happy.

This deal for the 330Fs is a good one. Although the 330 product is a good one these aircraft are getting on a bit in terms of years and they either need to be refurbished or sold on. Especially with the 787 coming online, which will fill most of the 330 routes, if not add a few longer segments due to its superior range.

The option of what to do with the 330s was a no brainer. Qatar is trying to grow its cargo department and why introduce a new fleet and retrain new pilots when it has all these 330s ready to be converted and fly within months.

[crazy_max]

Actually this would make most of the 330 drivers happy, even if they don't see it this way right now. Way better routes and rosters.

[captain.weird]

I think the reason to obtain the 30% stake of Cargolux is to know the tricks of operating a cargo department inside the aviation industry.

Using these tricks in the QR Cargo division will be a good one.