Qatar Airways has formally taken delivery of its first four Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft. It has a total of 30 Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner on order, which will join the existing fleet of 30 smaller Boeing 787-8.
The brand new 787-9 jets departed on their joint delivery flights from Boeing’s production site in Everett, Washington, on Thursday evening. They arrived at Doha Airport in Qatar on Friday evening. A further three 787-9 later followed, which arrived on Saturday evening.
Delivery: Qatar Airways is receiving its first four Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft. The carrier already operates 30 Boeing 787-8 jets, but will add an additional 30 Boeing 787-9 to its fleet. https://t.co/V7GMQFPb8Q pic.twitter.com/oBbYgoqcvP
— International Flight Network (@FlightIntl) December 27, 2019
However, all four aircraft from the first wave, later flew back again to the United States for cabin installations in Victorville. The three aircraft that arrived the day after will do the same. It was required for them to land in Qatar in order to be formally delivered. Contracts between Qatar Airways and Boeing forced the American aircraft manufacturer to formally deliver the first few aircraft in 2019, which is why these flights to Doha were carried out, even though the work in the US isn’t entirely finished yet.
The two companies face criticism on social media over this absurd and seemingly pointless delivery procedure of seven brand new airplanes.
No, that’s enough. Boeing and Qatar Airways are banned from claiming to be in favour of the environment.
This is a disgrace. https://t.co/taxnMp3eLe
— John Walton 🏳️🌈 ✈️ 💺 (@thatjohn) December 28, 2019
Besides the Boeing 787 aircraft type, Qatar Airways has Boeing 777 as well as Airbus A330, A350 and A380 wide-body jets in its fleet. The carrier has Boeing 777-8, 777-9 and 26 more 787-9 aircraft on order. Furthermore, additional Airbus A350s are scheduled to join the fleet.
Its subsidiary for freighter operations, Qatar Airways Cargo, ordered five additional Boeing 777 freighter aircraft during the Paris Air Show 2019.
Nick Wenzel founded International Flight Network in 2016. He is the Social Media Manager and an Editor for IFN.news.
