The CEO of Qatar Airways says the carrier will begin exiting its A380-800s once it starts taking deliveries of A350-1000s from a reinstated order at Airbus. Speaking to media at the Paris Air Show, CEO Akbar al Baker said the A350-1000s were originally ordered for fleet replacement purposes. In September 2022, amid a bitter dispute over fuselage paint deterioration issues on the type, Airbus axed the remaining order for nineteen A350-1000s. Preceding that, Qatar Airways had been declining deliveries of A350s, bringing ten of their A380-800s out of retirement to provide a capacity fill-up. This was despite Al Baker being no fan of the plane. In 2021, he described their acquisition as “the biggest mistake” the carrier had ever made. In early February, Qatar Airways and Airbus settled that dispute and a separate matter concerning A321-200Ns. As part of the settlement, Airbus agreed to reinstate deliveries, albeit later than originally planned. Deliveries of the A350s are now expected to start in 2025. According to ch-aviation fleets advanced data, Qatar Airways has returned their twenty-one A350-1000s to service. Al Baker told media in Paris this week that as the additional orders are delivered, the A380-800s will be "taken off gradually." <br/>
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Cathay Pacific Airways forecast a consolidated profit for the first half of 2023 on Friday, after multiple years of pandemic-related border closures and strict quarantine measures. Hong Kong's flagship carrier parked much of its fleet during the pandemic due to a lack of demand. The airline was also hit by COVID-related flight cancellations and drastic headcount reductions owing to quarantine restrictions. "The Cathay Group has seen a strong rebound in the performance of our airlines (and) our cash flow has continued to improve," the airline said in a statement, adding that the group had been operating cash generative so far in 2023. The airline carried about 6.3m passengers in the first five months of 2023, compared with a meagre figure of about 185,000 last year. For the 12 months ended Dec. 31, Cathay Pacific had reported a loss attributable to ordinary shareholders of HK$7.16b ($914.43m). It is expected to post a profit of HK$3.44b this year, based on estimates from Refinitiv Eikon.<br/>