First there was theAirbus A330 who had to return to work last August at Qatar Airways. And now it's the turn of five Airbus A380s to come out of retirement and be reactivated on many of the Qatari airline's routes. An operation which, according to the airline's CEO, Akbar Al-Baker, is not being carried out light-heartedly.
" La recent grounding of 19 A350s left us no other choice to temporarily bring back part of our A380 fleet on the main winter routes. These downtimes are due to an ongoing problem of accelerated degradation of the fuselage surface under the paint. It has not yet been resolved with the manufacturer, and the root cause is not yet known", describes the CEO.
The A350s are currently banned from flying by order of the Qatari Civil Aviation Authority. Qatar Airways is facing a reducing fleet capacityAt the same time, demand for flights is picking up. And Qatar Airways is gradually reopening most of the destinations it served before the pandemic.
A temporary return
The airline is therefore forced to reactivate at least five of the ten A380s parked at the old Doha airport. The aircraft are due to start flying on 15 December, serving London-Heathrow and Paris-CDG in particular..
"This difficult decision reflects the seriousness of the A350 problem. It is intended to a short-term measuree to help us balance our commercial needs. It does not mean the permanent reintroduction of our A380 fleet.. The latter was grounded in favour of more fuel-efficient aircraft at the start of the Covid-19″ pandemic, Akbar Al-Baker points out.
"Looking ahead, we remain committed to finding alternative solutions to meet customer demand. And maintain the highest levels of sustainability and customer experience for our passengers. We continue to strongly urge Airbus to prioritise its investigations into the root cause of the A350 problem. And to ensure that it provides a permanent solution to repair the damage and correct the cause," says the airline's CEO.
