Qatar Airways to expand with an all-Airbus fleet

The deal comprises two A321s, eight A330-200s, six A330-300s - plus options on a further six A330s - and two A340-600s - plus options on a further eight. In addition, Qatar Airways will lease two Airbus A330-200s from GECAS.

The acquisition means that Qatar Airways will continue as an all-Airbus operator into the future, while making it the first Middle East customer for the A330-300 and a new client for the A321 and A340-600.

Deliveries of the A321s and A330s begin in spring 2004, while the A340-600s are due to be delivered in summer 2006. Qatar's A321s will be powered by International Aero Engines V2500s, its A330s by General Electric CF6-800E1s, and its A340-600s by Rolls-Royce Trent 500s.

"When you are a young and fast-growing airline in a competitive market, you need additional aircraft to help grow passenger numbers and expand your network," says Qatar Airways Chief Executive Officer Akbar Al-Baker. "We are also building on a long-standing partnership with Airbus, and are looking forward to benefitting from the unrivalled commonality among its aircraft family."

Qatar Airways currently flies an all-Airbus fleet comprising nine A300-600s, an A310, two A319s, ten A320s, five A330-200s and one A340-200. It will also take delivery of two A380s in early 2009. Qatar Airways chose the A340-600s because they can fly very long nonstop, point-to-point routes - such as from its Doha base to the USA - while also being economical on shorter routes to Asia.

"It's always impressive to see a service-orientated airline such as Qatar Airways succeeding in the marketplace, and always a great source of pride and satisfaction to know that Airbus aircraft are playing a part in that success," says Airbus Chief Executive Officer Noël Forgeard. "This deal also confirms the value and standing of our product range in the market."

Qatar Airways has opted for the version of the A340-600 which offers additional payload/range flexibility through an increased maximum take-off weight (MTOW) of 376 tonnes. As with its other aircraft families, Airbus will continue to offer a choice of MTOWs on the A340-600, which is currently available in 365 tonne and 368 tonne MTOW versions.

Airbus offers airlines and their passengers the world's most modern airliner family, whose benefits include cabin comfort, economy, reliability and widespread commonality. Cockpit commonality is widely recognised as a key benefit throughout the modern range of Airbus fly-by-wire aircraft, saving airlines money in training and giving them greater flexibility in operation.

The success of Airbus' modern designs is clearly visible in the marketplace, where Airbus is now winning more than a half of the orders placed worlwide, and in the almost 200 customers that have place more than 4,700 orders for them around the world.

Airbus is an EADS joint Company with BAE SYSTEMS.