Qatar Airways (QR, Doha Hamad International) has begun reactivating some of its previously mothballed A330s in order to primarily deploy them on cargo-only flights.
ch-aviation research shows the Qatari flag carrier has returned five of its eight A330-300s to service. The first of them, A7-AEN (msn 907), was reactivated on July 1, 2021. A sixth unit was ferried from storage at Doha International to Doha Hamad International on July 30, indicating its imminent resumption of commercial flying.
The eight A330-300s were gradually phased out between mid-March and end-June 2020. The type's last commercial flight was operated on July 1, 2021, by A7-AEF (msn 721) from Chennai to Doha. Between then until mid-July 2021, the aircraft were only reactivated for ferry flights between the two airports in the Qatari capital.
The airline also reactivated the first of its five remaining A330-200s, A7-ACI (msn 746), on August 1, 2021. The other four -200s remain in storage, Flightradar24 ADS-B data shows.
According to the ch-aviation schedules module, the airline deploys the A330s on cargo-only flights to destinations in Europe, the Gulf, and Asia. However, ADS-B records show that some of the A330-300s have also been deployed on the scheduled passenger route to London Heathrow as an alternative to B777-300(ER)s.
Besides the A330s, Qatar Airways' widebody fleet also comprises thirty-four A350-900s, nineteen A350-1000s, ten A380-800s, two B747-8Fs, nine B777-200(LR)s, twenty-six B777-200Fs, forty-eight B777-300(ER)s, thirty B787-8s, and seven B787-9s. The airline has a further twenty-three A350-1000s on firm order from Airbus but recently paused any further deliveries due to alleged manufacturing issues with the type's fuselage. Qatar's widebody order book also comprises a further twenty-three B787-9s, ten B777-8s, and fifty B777-9s.
In a separate development, Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive Akbar Al Baker told the FlightPlan online conference that the carrier could potentially reactivate five of its ten A380-800s in future. This is a partial reversal of Al Baker's previous unambiguous statement that all ten quadjets would be retired. However, he still underlined that the possibility of ever reactivating any of the A380s was very small.
