Middle Eastern carrier Qatar Airways
is considering ditching its order for 25 Boeing
737 MAX 10s. People familiar with the matter told Bloomberg that the aircraft type no longer meets the requirements of its route network. What made Qatar Airways change its mind?

Photo: Boeing

737 MAX 10 delays

Due to problems with the design of the aircraft’s anti-icing system as well as increased scrutiny and regulatory oversight from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)
, the 737 MAX 10
is years behind schedule. Currently, Boeing plans on introducing the MAX 10 at best in late 2025, but the introduction of the aircraft will most likely occur much later in the decade.

The constant delays with the MAX 10 have already caused carriers like United Airlines
and Virgin Australia
to swap their MAX 10 orders for the 737 MAX 8
. Qatar Airways would be the latest airline to considering swapping its MAX 10 orders to the 737 MAX 8 as well.

Should the airline swap its order of 25 MAX 10’s for MAX 8s, the airline will most likely hand its swapped planes over to its airline partners such as Rwandair
and Virgin Australia, who currently operate the MAX 8, according to Bloomberg.

Photo: Virgin Australia

The Qatar Airways MAX fleet

On April 15th, Qatar Airways took delivery of the first of nine Boeing 737 MAX 8s to enter service with the airline. The carrier ordered the MAX 8 to expand its short-haul fleet with highly modern and fuel-efficient aircraft to support its “sustainable expansion plans as the world’s leading airline.”

Since then, all nine MAX-8s have been delivered to the airline. Per ch-aviation data, only six of Qatar’s nine 737 MAX 8’s are in service, with the other three (A7-BSB, A7-BSC, and A7-BSD) sitting in storage at Doha International Airport. Qatar Airways’ fleet of six active 737 MAX 8 aircraft primarily serve short-haul routes, such as Doha to Kuwait City as well as other medium-haul routes to cities such as Mumbai and Sharjah.

Photo: Qatar Airways

Qatar Airways dispute with Airbus

Two years ago, during the heat of its disagreement with Airbus over peeling paint on its A350s, Qatar Airways firmed up an order for 25 Boeing 737 MAX 10s. At the time, the carrier’s relationship with Airbus was widely seen as over, as the manufacturer terminated its order for 50 A321neo and 23 Airbus A350-900s.

Since their fallout in 2022, the relationship between Qatar Airways and Airbus has significantly improved. So much so that in July of this year, Qatar CEO Badr Mohammed Al Meer stated that the carrier had reinstated its previously canceled orders with the European plane maker.

Photo: Qatar Airways

The Qatar Airways hub and spoke model

The Qatar Airways fleet currently consists of nearly 200 widebody aircraft from Boeing and Airbus. This contributes to the airline’s hub-and-spoke model. Think of a wheel that has spokes coming out of its center axle. In this analogy, the axle (or center) of the wheel is the airport an airline operates all of its flights out of and the spokes are the routes to the destinations from the sole center (or “hub”).

Photo: Peter Gudella | Shutterstock

This model of operations allows Qatar Airways to connect passengers from all around the world through its sole hub of Doha Hamad International Airport
, thus maximizing the number of cities the airline can reach with a single stop-over. This, combined with Qatar Airways’ unique location in the Middle East (virtually equidistant from both Europe and Asia) and modern fleet of widebody aircraft, makes the airline appealing to those traveling between Europe and Asia.