Qatar Airways’ Airbus A380 took to the skies for the first time in 18 months earlier this week due to an ongoing capacity shortage. Recently, 19 of the carrier’s Airbus A350s were grounded by the regulator due to accelerated surface degradation below the paint.
On Friday (November 5, 2021), Qatar Airways announced that they have reluctantly reintroduced Airbus A380 service after 18 months due to ongoing capacity challenges. Recently, 19 of the carrier’s Airbus A350s were grounded by the Qatar Civil Aviation Authority (QCAA) due to accelerated surface degradation below the paint. Qatar Airways anticipates that at least five of the airline’s 10 A380s will be brought back into service in the coming weeks on a temporary basis and will be deployed on key winter routes, including service to London Heathrow (LHR) and Paris Charles de Gaulle (CDG) from December 15, 2021. The carrier also recently re-introduced a number of Airbus A330s in order to increase capacity as travel demand returns to pre-pandemic levels.
In Friday’s announcement, Qatar Airways Group’s Chief Executive, His Excellency Mr. Akbar Al Baker, said,
“The recent grounding of 19 Qatar Airways A350 fleet has left us with no alternative but to temporarily bring some of our A380 fleet back on key winter routes. These groundings are due to an ongoing issue relating to the accelerated degradation of the fuselage surface below the paint, which as yet remains an unresolved matter between Qatar Airways and the manufacturer for which the root cause is yet to be understood.
“This difficult decision reflects the gravity of the A350 issue and is intended to be a short-term measure to assist us in balancing our commercial needs. It does not signify a permanent reintroduction of our A380 fleet, which were grounded in favor of more fuel-efficient, twin-engine aircraft at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. One of Qatar Airways’ greatest assets is our highly flexible fleet of diverse aircraft. This means we are not dependent on a specific aircraft type, and enables us to balance our commercial needs with our responsibilities to maintain an environmentally sustainable fleet at all times.
“Looking forward, we remain committed to finding alternative solutions to support customer demand and maintain the highest levels of sustainability and customer experience for our passengers. We continue to strongly urge Airbus to prioritize their investigations into the conclusive root cause of the issue affecting the A350 aircraft type, and ensure it proposes a permanent solution at the earliest opportunity to repair the damage and correct the underlying root cause.”
Based in Doha, Qatar Airways is the national carrier of the state of Qatar. The multi award-winning airline was recently named ‘Airline of the Year’ for the sixth time at the 2021 World Airline Awards managed by Skytrax. The carrier also received awards for the ‘World’s Best Business Class’, ‘World’s Best Business Class Airport Lounge’, ‘World’s Best Business Class Seat’, ‘World’s Best Business Class Onboard Catering’, and ‘Best Airline in the Middle East’.
Source: Qatar Airways
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