Qatar Airways seeks engine guarantees for new Airbus
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Qatar Airways expects to finalise "soon", its chief executive officer Akbar Al Baker said.
The Gulf airline has cancelled four A320neo jets powered by alternative Pratt & Whitney engines and expects to swap the overall aircraft order, which was originally for 50 jets, to larger A321neo aircraft.
CFM, a joint venture of General Electric and France's Safran, is locked in a fierce battle with Pratt & Whitney to supply engines for new Airbus medium-haul jets.
CFM exclusively supplies engines for the competing Boeing 737 aircraft, which Qatar Airways has also ordered.
Al Baker acknowledged Qatar Airways had received attractive prices when it originally ordered the new Pratt & Whitney engine, but said a decision on whether to keep those or switch to CFM for the upgraded A321neo order would depend on other guarantees.
Qatar Airways has announced it will commence four times weekly, non-stop service to Las Vegas, Nevada, starting January 8m 2018.[break]
The new route will be the airline’s 11th to the United States, connecting McCarran International Airport to Hamad International Airport in Doha, making Qatar Airways the first Gulf carrier to provide regular scheduled service to Las Vegas.
The new route also provides US-based flyers with an additional point of departure, when travelling abroad to Qatar Airways’ global network of over 150 destinations. It will be Qatar Airways’ second route from the American west, after the airline launched their popular Los Angeles to Doha route, in January 2016. ■