AMSTERDAM: Qatar Airways plans to make "important announcements" at the June 15-21 Paris Airshow, its chief executive said on Tuesday.
Speaking in Amsterdam, where the Gulf carrier is launching new services from June 16, Akbar Al Baker said, "The reason I am here today and not on June 16 is because I have to be at the air show at Le Bourget, and we also have some important announcements to make at that time".
Qatar Airways frequently places aircraft orders at the industry's annual showcase event, which alternates with the Farnborough Airshow in England.
But Al Baker declined to be drawn on whether he expected to announce new plane purchases. "We don't only order airplanes at an air show.
There are all kinds of manufacturers. There are cabin products, there are people with seats, with entertainment systems," he said at a news conference.
"We don't need engines, we have already ordered them," he added. Asked where he stood on a debate over the future of the A380, which Dubai's Emirates is trying to persuade Airbus to update with new engines, Al Baker said, "We have sufficient A380s for the time being. We don't want to buy 200 A380s, we're ok with the 10 we already have".
He added, "We will look for replacements for the A380 eventually and if there is a new one we will be interested.
Most definitely they will need to improve their performance. I'm sure the same message is being given them by all the airlines".
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