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Boeing has achieved some peace of mind, by making the first flight of Qatar Airways’ first 787 Dreamliner, just ahead of the upcoming Farnborough air show.
The airline’s capricious CEO, Mr. Akbar Al Baker, is known for his non-diplomatic criticism, often seen as tantrums, of airframe manufacturers, especially at air shows. Boeing’s competitor Airbus, was at the receiving end of his ire at the recent Dubai air show. Boeing with its delivery delays of the 787 has come in for severe criticism by Al Baker since 2009.
First flights of early adopters of the 787, Japan Air Lines and Air India, did not merit a mention on the blog of Randy Tinseth, Boeing’s Vice President, Marketing, but the first 787 flight of Qatar Airways sure did. A good outflanking move by Boeing to ensure it peace of mind at Farnborough.
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| Image courtesy Randy Tinseth’s blog. |
Qatar Airways is expected to take delivery of five 787’s this year. The airline has repeated stated its intention on being the first, to offer 787 Dreamliner flights to and from London.
The Qatar 787 will be displayed at Farnborough as part of airline’s UK publicity drive since the London route is very important to it. After the show Qatar plans to put the aircraft in to regional service within the Gulf for several weeks to train crews. The airline is expected to launch its 787 London service in late August.
The balance aircraft will be put in to service on other prestigious routes as they are delivered. We are posting one picture from Randy’s blog. Please visit his blog and see the rest.
