Qatar Airways finalized an order for 25 Boeing 737-10s, firming a memo of understanding (MOU) it signed in January after Airbus canceled the airline’s A321neo order.
Qatar Airways had a chalet at the Farnborough Airshow and its Group CEO, Akbar al Baker, was on site to sign the deal with Boeing Commercial Airplanes president and CEO Stan Deal. But it was a wait-and-see affair as the ceremony occurred July 21 at the tail end of the show, which was the first Farnborough since 2018 because of the pandemic.
Qatar had previously ordered, then canceled, 737-8s for Air Italy, which ceased operations and went into liquidation in 2020.
The 737-10 order came about after Airbus canceled Qatar’s order for 50 A321neos in an escalating and ongoing dispute over problems with the Doha-based carrier’s A350 widebodies affecting the aircraft’s exterior surface layers. That dispute was taken to a UK court, which in April denied Qatar a motion to keep Airbus from remarketing the neos that the airline had on firm order until January.
For Boeing, the firming of the MAX order was a second public boost for the 737-10 at the airshow, where Delta Air Lines had placed an order on the opening day for 100 of the variant. The 737-10 is the newest and largest of the MAX family and has yet to be certified.
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