"Qatar Airways close to ordering Bombardier CSeries"...

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http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/generic/ ... %20CSeries

Qatar Airways To Order Bombardier's CSeries

Feb 2, 2011

By Jens Flottau

Qatar Airways is close to placing an order for Bombardier’s CSeries, although CEO Akbar Al Baker declined Tuesday to describe his exact plans for the aircraft.

Al Baker says, “I will leave that question to be answered in Le Bourget,” referring to the June 2011 Paris Air Show typically used for big order announcements.

Qatar Airways has been in lengthy negotiations with Bombardier about the order, and talks previously appeared to have reached an impasse over engine maintenance guarantees.

The order would be a major success for the program, which has not attracted many orders yet.

Al Baker did not say what this means for a possible order for Airbus A320NEOs, hinting that this was a “sensitive issue” right now.

However, Airbus can expect a follow-on order for more A380s by Qatar in the next few months.

The airline expects to receive its first two Boeing 787s in December and another six in 2012, Al Baker said. Before the November 2010 inflight fire on one of the Boeing test aircraft, the airline was scheduled to receive the first 787 in August, he said.

Al Baker was in Brussels for the official launch of Qatar’s services from Doha to Brussels. The flight is initially offered five times weekly with an Airbus A330.