The order was dropped as part of the airline’s recent agreement to buy up to 210 Boeing widebody jets.
Boeing’s first 737 MAX 10 arriving after an initial test flight (Photo: AirlineGeeks | Katie Zera)
Qatar Airways has canceled its order of 25 Boeing 737 MAX 10s.
The airline dropped the order, which included options for 25 additional 737s, as part of a bigger, more recent deal with Boeing for up to 210 widebody jets, CEO Badr Mohammed Al Meer said in an interview with Bloomberg.
The news did not come as a complete surprise, since the outlet reported late last year that Qatar Airways was considering abandoning its 737 MAX purchase, citing unnamed sources familiar with the matter. The sources told Bloomberg that the aircraft no longer fit the airline’s fleet requirements.
Qatar Airways agreed to buy the 737 MAX 10s in 2022 during an ebb in its relationship with Airbus, which supplies the majority of the carrier’s narrowbody fleet. The airline said the surfaces of its A350s were undergoing “accelerated degradation,” grounded all 29 of its A350s, and sued Airbus over the problem. The manufacturer acknowledged quality issues with the surfaces but maintained the aircraft were still safe to fly.
As the carrier and the manufacturer fought in court, Qatar Airways said it would not take delivery of any more A350s, and Airbus in turn backed out of an agreement to supply the airline with dozens of A321neos.
The two sides reached a settlement in 2023, which allowed repairs on the A350s to move forward, restarted the A321neo deal, and eliminated the need for the 737 MAX 10s as a narrowbody alternative.
The 737 MAX 10 is Boeing’s largest 737 variant, which is still pending approval from regulators.
Earlier this month, Qatar Airways placed an order for 130 787 Dreamliners and 30 777-9s. The agreement includes options for an additional 50 aircraft, making its largest ever order and the largest purchase of Boeing widebody jets in the company’s history.
The scope of the order prompted Bloomberg’s Francine Lacqua to ask Al Meer if Qatar Airways was seeking to play the two major manufacturers off of each other.
“You know, for the time being, we need to focus on finalizing our agreement with Boeing,” he replied. “As you saw, we are not like other airlines where we split our orders 20 today, 20 next year. Because we are basing our order on a very solid strategy and we decided to go with the 210 aircraft order. However, it doesn’t mean that Airbus is out of the game. Our narrowbodies will continue to be Airbus.”
Qatar Airways is currently awaiting an order of 50 Airbus narrowbody aircraft, including 40 A321neos and 10 A321LRs.
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