Qatar Airways delays A380s over wing cracks

Qatar airways plans to defer the scheduled deliveries of Airbus A380 aircraft due to the wing cracks the European planemaker is dealing with. The Doha-based carrier is not due to receive its A380s until October 2013. "We will defer the deliveries of our A380s until we have a clear position on the issue surrounding wing cracks which are under process of modification by Airbus," Akbar Al Baker, CEO of Qatar Airways, said yesterday while addressing a forum at the Arabian Travel Market. Meanwhile, the airline will receive its first Boeing 787s next month, Al Baker said. "We will display our plane at the Farnborough Airshow in June and then it will go back to Boeing to be fitted with high-speed internet and then it will come back to us to be in service," he said. The carrier is also keen on any new generation planes that Boeing may be looking to launch. "We would also be very keen on any new generation planes that Boeing envisages," Al Baker said. Continuing its aggressive expansion, Qatar Airways aims to fly to 170 destinations with an equal number of aircraft within the next three years. "Though we had aimed to be a 120-destination airline, that was a thing of the past. Now we want to have 170 destinations and an equal number of planes within the next three years," Al Baker said. Having abandoned its effort to acquire Spanair, which went bankrupt recently, Al Baker yesterday for the first time explained the reasons. He said: "Spanair had a huge potential. They needed a financial injection which we were ready to do. "We pulled out when the issue of state aid got involved. The Spanish regulator said all the state aid that was given to Spanair had to be returned back to the government if Qatar Airways was to take a stake in the Spanish carrier. And we were not in favour of that." Dubai: Qatar Airways is planning to place a $700 million order for 10 Bombardier jets for its corporate jet division, CEO Akbar Al Baker said yesterday. "We are imminently going to order 10 Bombardier aircraft at the cost of nearly $700 million. This is for our corporate jet business," he said. Asked if the airline was planning to place any additional plane orders, Al Baker said: "What other planes I am looking at, I am going to tell you at this time. You have to wait and see what we get out of the bag whenever we have the opportunity." The carrier has been, meanwhile, delaying its decision on the Bombardier C-Series aircraft for its private jet business, Qatar Executive. It is likely to announce an order for the jets during the forthcoming Farnborough International Airshow in June.