Qatar Airways exercises 30 787 options and buys 10 additional 777-300ERs and signs an LoI for 60 737 Max 8

In a press conference held in Washington DC, Qatar Airways announced an agreement with Boeing to exercise the 30 787 options it held when it placed the original order for 30 787-8s in April 2007.  The 787 order is for 30 787-9. This exercise of the 30 options is now a firm order

Additionally Qatar bought 10 more 777-300ER and signed a Letter of Intent (LoI) to purchase 60 737 MAX 8 narrowboddies.

This order was to have been announced at Farnborough as I alluded to in previous posts but the deal was put on hold until the United States signed off or Qatar intent to purchase the F-15 for its armed forces.  Now that the F-15 sale is approved it allowed Qatar to complete the purchase of the 737, 777 and 787 fleet.

This purchase was not only a reaffirmation of Boeing's commercial product line but also was a shot aimed right at Airbus for the delivery issues they've had with the A320neo and the A350-900.  There also have been performance issues with the A350 operating out of Doha and the dispatch reliability is in the 90% area, way low then what was expected when Qatar started taking delivery.  I have to wonder if Qatar's order for the remaining A350s (including the A350-1000) is in jeopardy given the large order with Boeing.  Don't forget that Qatar also has 60 777X orders.  Between these two large wide body order (787-8, 787-9, 777-300ER, 777X) Qatar has plenty of large capacity aircraft to meet its needs into the next decade.


Here's Boeing Press Release on the Qatar order:

Boeing, Qatar Airways Announce Order for 30 787-9 Dreamliners, 10 777-300ERs

Announcement includes Letter of Intent for up to 60 737 MAX 8s 

Marks Boeing's future entry into airline's single-aisle fleet 

One of largest fleet announcements in Qatar Airways' history

WASHINGTON, Oct. 7, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Boeing [NYSE: BA] and Qatar Airways announced an order for 30 787-9 Dreamliners and 10 777-300ERs, valued at $11.7 billion at list prices, validating the value, reliability and performance of Boeing's twin-aisle airplanes.
The airline also signed a Letter of Intent for up to 60 737 MAX 8s, valued at $6.9 billion at list prices. 

Today's announcement builds on Qatar Airways' current fleet of 84 Boeing aircraft, a combination of 787s and 777s, all delivered over the last nine years. With this new order, Qatar Airways increases its firm order backlog of Boeing widebody airplanes from 65 to 105, including 60 777Xs.
The announcement was attended by the State of Qatar's Minister of Finance, His Excellency Ali Shareef Al Emadi, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Tony Blinken and the Ambassador of Qatar, His Excellency Mohammed Jaham Al-Kuwari. 

"Qatar Airways, already one of the fastest growing airlines in the history of aviation, today announces a significant and historic aircraft order that will power our future growth for the years and the decades ahead," said Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive, His Excellency Mr. Akbar Al Baker. "Boeing has proven to be a valuable partner, and today's announcement is testament to our appreciation of the quality of their product and their dedication to providing world class customer service."  

Qatar Airways' relationship with Boeing was renewed in 2006. Since then, there have been many milestones in the partnership. The airline was the first to operate the 787 in the Middle East and is a launch customer for the 777X. With the commitment for the 737 MAX 8, it would be the first Boeing single-aisle airplane model to join Qatar Airways' fleet in more than 15 years. 

"Congratulations to The Boeing Company and Qatar Airways on the remarkable milestone they've reached, which will significantly grow the number of Boeing aircraft in the Qatar Airways fleet," said U.S. Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker. "Beyond its importance for these two companies, this agreement demonstrates the importance of global commercial partnerships in strengthening our bilateral ties. This deal will strengthen economic opportunity and job creation, and highlights the importance of strong global trading relationships." 

"We are so very proud that a discerning and market-leading customer like Qatar Airways not only continues to endorse our current products, but  also has confidence in Boeing's new technology that will soon be evident on the 777X and 737 MAX," said  Boeing Commercial Airplanes President and CEO Ray Conner. "Our partnership with Qatar Airways has grown and strengthened tremendously over the years and I look forward to the time when its fleet will feature an increasing number of both our single and twin-aisle airplanes." 

The 777-300ER is the most reliable twin-aisle airplane flying today and is considered to be the flagship of the world's elite airlines. It has the highest schedule reliability of any twin-aisle airplane at 99.5 percent – the airplane is on time, nearly all the time. 

The 787-9 Dreamliner is the second member of the super-efficient, passenger-pleasing 787 family. The 787-9, a stretch of the 787-8, can fly 290 passengers 7,635 nautical miles (14,140 km) in addition to more cargo, allowing airlines the ability to grow routes first opened by the 787-8 

Boeing's newest family of single-aisle airplanes – 737 MAX 7, 737 MAX 8, 737 MAX 9 and 737 MAX 200 – builds on the Next-Generation 737's popularity and reliability while delivering customers unsurpassed fuel efficiency in the single-aisle market, with deliveries scheduled to begin in 2017.