The airline is expecting the delivery of two aircraft this week and another two will be received in December, said Akbar Al Baker (photo), Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive.
“We are the launch customer of A320 Neos, and we will be the first recipient of it. Hopefully, we will receive them by the end of this year," he said on the sidelines of a press conference to announce the launch of Royal Air Marco's first direct flight to Doha.”
Al Baker said the lower oil prices have benefitted Qatar Airways over the past several months. “When oil prices were high, we were losing money, because 43 percent of our cost structure is based on fuel price. Now it has gone down to 39 percent. We hope it will add to our profitability,” he said.
Qatar Airways witnessed a 17% passenger growth, touching 24 million, for the first nine months of this year on year-on-year basis and the number is expected to hit 30 million by the year-end.
As of now, Qatar Airways fleet order includes 100 Boeing 777Xs, 76 Airbus A350s, 37 Boeing 787s (including options), 14 Boeing 777s (including freighters and options), 80 Airbus A320 Neos (including options), seven Airbus A380-800s (10 firm and three options), two Airbus A320 and 10 Airbus A330 Freighters.
Qatar Airways currently has more than 330 new aircraft worth more than $70bn pending delivery over the next few years.