Qatar in talks for A330 cargo conversions

Qatar Airways threw its weight behind Airbus's latest project by expressing interest in converting up to 20 of its A330 passenger jets into freighters, while pressing the European planemaker to improve its plans for the all-new A350. Chief executive Akbar Al Baker, who had threatened to buy converted Boeing aircraft because of a gap in Airbus's cargo strategy, welcomed the planemaker's decision to launch an A330 "passenger-to-freight" option at last month's Singapore Air Show and said the two sides were in talks about a potential order. He expressed confidence that Airbus and Boeing would iron out recent high-profile difficulties with aircraft production but said he remained unhappy with the performance, weight and capacity of Airbus's planned 370-seat carbon-fibre A350-1000. Qatar Airways is the largest customer of the A350.