It's official now ! Qatar Airways has finally abandoned the year 2022 firm order of 25 Boeing B737-10 planes, that was aimed at creating a gap filler fleet to the absence of Airbus's A321neos.
Couple of weeks ago, in the presence of United States President Trump, Qatar Airways placed its largest aircraft order in history, that was exclusive for Boeing widebody aircraft.
The Gulf airline placed a firm order for 160 planes, with options for an additional 50 jets. That included a firm order for 130 787s (including 787-9s and 787-10s), plus a firm order for 30 777-9s. Then retaining the option for 50 additional jets is for either of the aircraft types.
Back in December 2024, sources said that Qatar Airways was looking to strike the Boeing737-10 model from its order book because of the fleet compatibility and utilization.
The carrier, with an order for 25 units of B737-10s, was considering switching to smaller B737-8s for utilization by partners like RwandAir and Virgin Australia Holdings Ltd. that already use the model, as per sources.
The Doha based Airline made the deal for the Boeing B737s in mid 2022 at a time when it was in a legal dispute with Airbus that led to the cancelation of a purchase agreement for 50 Airbus A321 narrowbody planes.
In July last year, Qatar Airways Chief Executive Officer Badr Al Meer said that relationships with Airbus were in better shap, and that the European planemaker is delivering aircraft earlier than planned.
Noteworthy here is, the present CEO Al Meer took over from previous GCEO Akbar Al Baker, who had clashed with Airbus over flaking paint on the larger A350 planes.
Qatar Airways and Airbus were involved in the famous and rare legal dispute as a result of paint quality issues with the carrier's A350 fleet. Under the directions of Qatari Aviation Regulator-Qatar Civil Aviation Authority (QCAA), Qatar Airways was forced to ground several examples over surface degradation concerns, requiring repairs.
In January 2021, Qatar Airways sought more than $600 million in damages from Airbus, ultimately leading to the cancelation of the aforementioned deal for 50 A321neos. Airbus removed Qatar's 23 remaining A350s from its orderbook.
Both the A321neo and A350 orders were reinstated in early-2023 after the two parties came to an agreement over the lengthy dispute. They released a statement, saying:
"Qatar Airways and Airbus are pleased to have reached an amicable and mutually agreeable settlement in relation to their legal dispute over A350 surface degradation and the grounding of A350 aircraft. A repair project is now underway and both parties look forward to getting these aircraft safely back in the air."
The latest revelation concerning the 737 MAX 10 cancelation came as Al-Meer was answering questions about where Airbus stands in terms of Qatar Airways' future fleet plans.
Speaking with Bloomberg TV, he said:
For the time being we need to focus on finalizing our agreement with Boeing. 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.
The CEO added though that the Boeing order does not rule Airbus out of anything. Indeed, rumor has it that Qatar Airways is considering an additional order for the A350 that could be announced as early as the upcoming Paris Air Show this summer. Al-Meer continued:
However, it doesn't mean that Airbus is out of the game. Our narrowbody will continue to be Airbus. We are receiving 50 A321neos starting next year. So our whole narrowbody fleet will be basically operated by Airbus. We continue to receive A350-1000s, and there will always be a chance for another order from Airbus.
Understandably, Qatar Airways’ cancelation of the Boeing 737 MAX 10 order is more than a fleet adjustment, the strategic move has definite relationship with the operational efficiency and market responsiveness.
Meanwhile, the commercial debut of the model isn't expected before later in 2025 at best. Certification is years behind schedule as the US manufacturer grapples with tougher regulatory scrutiny and redesign of the jet engines anti-ice system.
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