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Qatar Airways CEO Akbar Al Baker branded Delta “wicked” over what he said was the US carrier’s part in ruining the Middle Eastern company’s first flight from Doha to Atlanta. Qatar’s Airbus A380 super-jumbo jet wasn’t allocated a gate when it arrived at the world’s busiest airport this week, forcing passengers to disembark via mobile stairs and shuttle buses, Al Baker said. A much smaller A320 was parked at the hub’s only A380-ready gate when the Doha flight arrived. Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport said the airline failed to provide adequate notice it would use the bigger jet. “This is an absolute violation of the air-services agreement,” Al Baker said Friday. “Old and frail people had to walk up very large steps to get into the terminal. We had check-in issues, we had obstruction in loading handicapped passengers.” Suppliers also failed to cooperate with Qatar Airways, Al Baker said, forcing the airline to get help from another company to obtain ground handling equipment. His comments are part of a continued trans-Atlantic clash. Delta and other U. airlines have accused Qatar Airways and other Persian Gulf carriers of competing unfairly by receiving billions in government subsidies to seize huge shares of the global market. The Middle Eastern carriers have denied getting such subsidies and said their US rivals benefited from government handouts through bankruptcy protection. “Delta in no way acted to obstruct Qatar’s ability to park its aircraft,” said a spokeswoman. “Despite Qatar’s request being submitted to the airport long after the gates had been assigned through the normal application processes, Delta offered solutions to allow Qatar to use the gates while ensuring our own schedule remained accommodated during a heavy traffic period at the international terminal.” <br/>

Qatar Airways has cancelled the order for its first A320neo jetliner from Airbus Group SE in the clearest sign yet that supplier bottlenecks are undermining commitments the European plane maker has made to customers. CE Akbar Al Baker said Friday that months of delays to the single-aisle plane have allowed the Doha-based airline to invoke a cancellation clause. He suggested that Qatar Airways, the onetime launch customer for the A320neo, could walk away from more orders when the contracts permit. Qatar Airways, one of Airbus’s biggest customers, had ordered 50 A320neo-family planes and originally was due to receive the first plane last year. Airbus and the plane’s engine maker, United Technologies Corp. unit Pratt & Whitney, have struggled to get the A320neo up to performance standards, resulting in considerable delays. Al Baker said the airline should have had five A320neos in service by now under the original agreement. “It is making a huge impact on my bottom line,” he said. “We are, quite frankly, screaming.” Fabrice Brégier, the head of Airbus’s plane-making unit, said: “We are late compared to what we had promised, especially for launch customers. I fully understand why these customers are not satisfied,” he said, though he declined to discuss contractual issues.<br/>

Qatar Airways CEO Akbar Al Baker said he’s happy with the level of the company’s 15% stake in British Airways owner IAG and won’t seek a seat on the London-based company’s board. Al Baker said he views the holding as a strategic investment that will aid cooperation in areas such as joint fleet purchases, rather than a financial stake, and has no plans to raise it beyond the current level. Qatar Air bought 9.99% of IAG in January last year before building its position via a series of further purchases. While the Gulf carrier can’t take a majority holding because of EU rules limiting foreign ownership to 49%, the move has fueled speculation in Britain about Al Baker’s aims. ‘We are not a hedge fund,” the CEO said. “We are not an investor that wants to get in and get out quickly and make big bucks.” IAG CEO Willie Walsh said separately at IATA that there’s no prospect of the U.K. company taking a reciprocal stake in Qatar Airways, given the Gulf airline’s 100% state ownership. The Gulf executive said he has big plans for Italian airline Meridiana SpA, in which Doha-based Qatar is also seeking to invest. The regional carrier, which operates a fleet including 30-year-old McDonnell Douglas MD-80-series aircraft, would be rapidly expanded and strategically repositioned he said, most likely with a transfer of Airbus Group SE A320 planes and A330 wide-bodies deemed surplus to requirements in Qatar.<br/>Hub Plan An agreement on the Italian investment has been held back by union opposition and negotiation on labor conditions, and Qatar Air will walk away if those issues are not resolved this summer, Al Baker said. Once the Meridiana situation has been resolved the Mideast giant will turn its attention to Royal Air Maroc, the Moroccan flag carrier, in which it’s seeking to purchase a 25 to 49% stake. Al Baker said he envisages the carrier becoming a hub player with an expanded network covering swathes of north and west Africa, and that an accord would likely include an agreement to help expand its Casablanca base.<br/>

A Malaysia Airlines flight from London to Kuala Lumpur experienced severe turbulence on Sunday, causing minor injuries to some passengers and crew, the airline said. There was a "brief moment of severe turbulence" when flight MH1, with 378 people on board, flew over the Bay of Bengal, it said. The flight landed safely in Kuala Lumpur, and a small number of affected passengers and crew were given immediate treatment. It provided no further details and airline officials couldn't be immediately reached for comment. A 13-year-old passenger, Harith Azman, posted photos on his Facebook page showing fallen food carts, items strewn in the aisle and a damaged hand rest on the Airbus A380 jumbo jet. Harith told The AP that his parents were both using the bathroom at the time and that his father hit his head on the ceiling, but did not require treatment. Two minutes after the seat belt sign was turned on over the Bay of Bengal, the plane started shaking violently and then suddenly "dived down," Harith said. It was a "very, very chaotic moment" as people started screaming and a food trolley and other items seemed to be floating in the air, he said. After 10 seconds, he said the plane was brought back under control. <br/>

The international team carrying out a criminal investigation into the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 over Ukraine nearly two years ago says it will reveal details of the weapon used and the exact launch site "after the summer." A Dutch civil investigation reported last year that a Soviet-designed Buk surface-to-air missile downed the Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur flight on July 17, 2014, but it didn't say who fired it. All 298 passengers and crew were killed as the jet disintegrated in midair and plummeted to the ground in conflict-torn eastern Ukraine. On Friday, the Joint Investigation Team seeking to apportion blame said its probe is "at a very advanced state," but is still waiting on some forensic analysis and for information from Russia about Buk installations.<br/>

Qantas is planning to expand US services with the introduction of new Boeing Co. long-range planes to bolster its budding partnership with American Airlines. The two carriers last year struck a joint-venture alliance to more closely cooperate, which covers service such as Qantas’s new service from Sydney to San Francisco and American’s Los Angeles to Sydney route. “We couldn’t be more pleased with how the partnership has started off. The chemistry between the two airlines is very good,” Qantas CE Alan Joyce said. American this month will add a new Los Angeles to Auckland, New Zealand service that also will fall under the joint venture. The airlines partnership has won backing from Australian and New Zealand regulators, though the U.S. DoT has yet to sign off, limiting the joint venture’s full implementation. Qantas expects to receive approval around midyear. The airlines are already starting to plan the next phase of their partnership. Qantas next year will start taking delivery of Boeing 787-9 long-range airliners that would enable it to start operating additional routes, particularly on city-pairs with lower demand, Joyce said. A big target is flights into American’s Dallas hub to tap onward connecting traffic. “We are looking at a Melbourne-Dallas route because we are so impressed with how Sydney-Dallas went,” Joyce said. A Brisbane to Dallas service also is on the planning horizon.<br/>

Chile-based LATAM Airlines Group SA, Latin America's largest carrier, said on Friday it plans to add up to 300 additional flights to service the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games Aug. 5 to Aug. 21. LATAM said it was taking a number of measures in preparation for the games, including increasing the number of employees on the ground as well as security and retrofitting planes for Paralympic athletes. The airline has invested as much as US$5.66m in its Olympic operation, it said. LATAM projected it will transport approximately 25% of those traveling by plane to Rio de Janeiro for the games, including 30% of Paralympians.<br/>

Gogo tumbled the most in more than three months after American Airlines Group split an order between the company and ViaSat for in-flight, satellite based internet service. The carrier selected ViaSat to provide service on its coming Boeing Co. 737 Max fleet of about 100 jets while choosing Gogo’s new 2Ku service for almost 140 planes. While Gogo will continue to provide ground-based ATG connectivity, American Airlines has an option to remove service from as many 550 aircraft. About 150 of those planes will be retired and American hasn’t decided which provider it will use to upgrade the remaining 400 to satellite-based service, said Casey Norton, a spokesman for the carrier. Gogo fell as much as 14% to $9.48 in New York, the biggest intraday decline since Feb. 16. American, the world’s largest airline, is keen to have “multiple suppliers” for broadband WiFi as a way to equip planes as quickly as possible, Norton said.<br/>