The sky’s the limit
Qatar Airways places largest single full-freighter order ever with Boeing.
On 31 January, during the Emir of Qatar’s state visit to the White House, Boeing and Qatar Airways let the cat out of the bag – a firm order for 34 Boeing B777-8Fs, plus an option for 16 more, will occupy the modernised production lines in Everett WA near Seattle for a while. Boeing has promised that the launch customer can expect to take delivery of the first units of the new model from 2027 on.
It’s no secret in the aviation industry that Akbar Al Baker, the chief executive of the Qatar Airways Group, has a strong sense of self-confidence. But the large order now placed with Boeing also illustrates the trust the Middle Eastern airline has placed in the US aircraft manufacturer and in air cargo activities.
Two new models in three months
There’d already been speculation for a long time about the introduction of Boeing’s new freighter – but then the air show in Dubai last November passed without an official announcement. Airbus even stole the show there (see our ITJ Daily for 16 November 2021) with the official launch of its Airbus A350F programme.
Since then the European supplier has collected four orders for 22 A350s – a letter of intent signed with the Air Lease Corporation for seven A350Fs was followed by one with Singapore Airlines for seven (plus an option for five more) and one with Air France-KLM for four (plus four), as well as a later memorandum of understanding with the CMA CGM Group for four units.
Clearly, Airbus is no longer willing to leave the lucrative cargo business to historic market leader Boeing without putting up a fight. The latter can boast that it provides around 90% of all global full-freighter capacity.
Boeing has now struck back impressively, announcing the largest ever single order for full-freighter aircraft; its list-price value comes to more than USD 20 billion. The promise to perform that the aircraft manufacturer has made to Qatar Airways, after investing more than USD 1 billion in its production lines in Everett WA (USA), is worth every piece of the paper it’s written on. The 70.9 m long and 71.8 m wide Boeing B777-8F (pictured on the right; it is ‘only’ 64.8 m wide when its wingtips are folded) surpasses both in appearance and performance the B777F (above), which was already available previously. Its 118 t cargo capacity puts it in almost the same category as the larger Boeing B747-400F.
It needs only two engines to fly more than 8,160 km, however, so its inner values also shine. It offers 25% better fuel efficiency, with emissions and operating costs reduced by the same quotient. With delivery of the first units scheduled for 2027, these figures almost obscure the fact that the order also includes two ‘conventional’ B777Fs and 25 (plus 25) Boeing B737-10s (pictured on the left).
The decision went against Airbus
Even though the deal also saw Qatar Airways reduce an earlier order for 60 Boeing B777X passenger versions by 20, the decision nevertheless clearly represents a vote against Airbus. The background is that safety concerns that arose from paint damage forced A350 launch customer Qatar Airways to ground 21 of its 34 A350-900s and all of the 19 A350-1000s delivered (in an order of 24) last year. Al Baker, having long encouraged his European partners to develop an A350 freighter, recently felt they no longer understood him at all – and filed a lawsuit in a London court over the loss of capacity suffered.
The dispute escalated to such an extent that on 20 January the aircraft manufacturer cancelled Qatar Airways’ order for 50 Airbus A321 Neos, placed ten years ago – a highly unusual move in the aviation industry. The customer, in turn, has challenged the decision in court. This order for Boeing short-haul aircraft is but a first reaction. Now it’s up to the Americans not to gamble away this trust.
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The figures call the tune
As the first cargo airline to climb on to Iata’s ‘CO2nnect’ platform in November 2021, Qatar Airways Cargo is working towards a fully integrated solution for its customers to be able to offset CO2. A first milestone was reached with a CO2 emissions calculator, launched at the end of January. The tool on the website determines the complete CO2 emissions of a shipment between any two points on a specific day and under selected flight options, with just a few clicks.