Qatar Airways will begin retiring A380-800s from 2025

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/>