On the last day of 2020, Qatar Airways received their 53rd Airbus A350, reaffirming their position as the world’s largest operator of the type. The carrier now operates 34 A350-900s and 19 A350-100s with an average age of 2.7 years.
On Sunday (January 3, 2021), Qatar Airways announced that they have taken delivery of their 53rd Airbus A350, which occurred on January 31, 2020. The latest delivery reaffirms the carrier’s position as the world’s largest operator of the aircraft type with 34 A350-900s and 19 A350-1000s. Qatar Airways A350 fleet has a youthful average age of only 2.7 years and the fuel-efficient twin engine aircraft is the ideal choice for environmentally conscious guests. The new A350-1000 features the airline’s award-winning Business Class and Qsuite products and will be deployed on routes to and from Africa, the Americas, the Asia-Pacific and Europe. In Sunday’s announcement, Qatar Airways Group’s Chief Executive, His Excellency Mr. Akbar Al Baker, said,
“Despite the challenges of the pandemic, we continue to invest in our fleet, operating the youngest, most fuel-efficient and technologically advanced aircraft in the skies. This strategic investment in sustainable twin-engine aircraft has enabled us to continue flying during the most challenging year in aviation’s history, helping take over 3.1 million people home since the start of the pandemic. As global travel recovers, our passengers can rely on us to fly greener and smarter with more flights to more destinations via the Best Airport in the Middle East, Hamad International Airport.”
As a result of reduced demand related to the global COVID-19 pandemic, Qatar Airways grounded their fleet of Airbus A380s. The company compared operational benchmarks between the A380 and A350 on routes from Doha to Guangzhou, Frankfurt, London, Melbourne, New York, Paris and Sydney and found a typical one-way flight reduction of 16 tonnes of carbon dioxide per block hour by utilizing the A350. The internal analysis showed that the A380 emitted between 80-95% more CO2 per block hour than the A350 on each route. The company will continue to ground their A380 fleet until further notice, choosing instead to operate commercially and environmentally responsible aircraft.
Qatar Airways is the national carrier of the state of Qatar and currently operates over 700 weekly flights to more than 110 destinations, providing more flexible travel options to more global destinations than any other airline. The airline plans on increasing their offer to 129 destinations by the end of March 2021. Qatar Airways was named the ‘World’s Best Airline’ in the 2019 World Airline Awards managed by Skytrax as well as the ‘Best Airline in the Middle East,’ ‘World’s Best Business Class.’ The carrier has also been awarded the title for ‘Best Business Class Seat’ in recognition of their ground-breaking Qsuite product which offers a spacious 1-2-1 seat layout. Additionally, Qatar Airways is the only carrier to have ever received the prestigious “Skytrax Airline of the Year” title five times. Qatar Airways normally serves over 170 global destinations with a fleet of more than 250 modern aircraft. The airline’s primary hub is located at Hamad International Airport in Doha, Qatar.
Source: Qatar Airways