Qatar Airways Places Huge Boeing Aircraft Order: Biggest In History?

While the full details haven’t yet been disclosed, Qatar Airways has just placed a massive aircraft order with Boeing…

Qatar Airways orders 160(ish) Boeing wide body jets

Qatar Airways CEO Badr Mohammed Al Meer and Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg today attended a signing ceremony, whereby the Doha-based airline reportedly placed an order for 160 jets. I haven’t yet seen the details of the order revealed, including how many of those are firm orders, and how many are options.

Witnessing the signing was US President Donald Trump and Qatar Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, as this happened during Trump’s Middle East visit.

Trump claims that this is the largest aircraft order in Boeing’s history, and that it’s worth $200 billion. I’m not sure if the first part is accurate (if they’re all firm, new orders, then it might be), but I’m 100% sure the second part isn’t accurate. Even if we’re talking about 160 firm orders for the 777X, that plane has a list price of well under $500 million.

So even at list prices, the deal would be worth less than $80 billion. List prices are also a long way off from what’s actually paid. That’s neither here nor there, but I see so many media sources quoting the $200 billion figure, without seemingly doing any basic mental math.

Of course we’re seeing this order politicized, with some people suggesting that Trump deserves credit for the order. Folks, regardless of who is president, that’s simply completely baseless. Of course the public signing ceremony is timed around this visit, but this order has been in the works since long before Trump was inaugurated.

Just as we shouldn’t give Biden credit for Air India’s historic aircraft order, we also don’t give Trump credit for a totally routine fleet renewal project. I’ll spare you the jokes about Qatar gifting Trump a $400 million jet. Regardless, congrats to Al Meer and Ortberg!

Qatar Airways reportedly orders the 777X & 787

As mentioned above, the breakdown of the order hasn’t yet been revealed, though it’s expected that it includes both the 777X and 787. While the 787 has been in service for a long time, the 777X hasn’t yet been certified, and current estimates are that the plane will start commercial service in 2026. However, that timeline has been pushed back for six years, so it’s anyone’s guess how that evolves.

For context, Qatar Airways’ passenger fleet currently consists of around 220 aircraft, with aircraft variants being all over the place. Qatar Airways’ fleet planning has been in disarray in recent years, due to a combination of Boeing struggling with getting new aircraft certified, plus the dispute with Airbus from several years back (which has since been resolved).

In addition to the aircraft already in its fleet, Qatar Airways also has 163 passenger jets on order (before today’s order), though many of these are narrow body aircraft. These orders are comprised of:

• 40 Airbus A321neos and 10 Airbus A321LRs
• 18 Airbus A350-1000s
• 25 Boeing 737 MAX 10s
• 60 Boeing 777-9s
• 10 Boeing 787-9s

Just to look at the current state of Qatar Airways’ fleet renewal:

• Qatar Airways’ narrow body fleet currently consists of 28 Airbus A320s, and those will be replaced by A321neos and maybe 737 MAX 10s; that fleet will grow considerably, but it will take time, and rumor has it that the MAX order may be canceled as part of the larger Boeing order
• Qatar Airways has 58 Airbus A350 family aircraft, and this seems to be the carrier’s favorite aircraft, which will be flying for years to come
• Qatar Airways has 51 Boeing 787s, though they’re a mixed bag, with the majority being 787-8s that are already an average of 10 years old
• Qatar Airways has 64 Boeing 777s, and those will eventually be retired, and replaced by newer generation aircraft, including the 777X
• Qatar Airways has eight Airbus A380s, which the airline initially intended to retire, but they were brought back due to A350 issues, plus delays with 777X certification

So I can totally see how Qatar Airways needs a lot of new jets. While narrow body fleet renewal is taken care of, Qatar Airways needs more jets to replace existing 777s, A380s, and eventually the older 787-8s.

At some point in the future, the 777X will be Qatar Airways’ flagship aircraft, and I’d expect for it to have the carrier’s new first class as well. I imagine Qatar Airways can get a good deal on these planes, and for that matter, get flexible terms, given the headwinds with certification.

My guess is that the order is pretty evenly split between the 777X and 787. To me, the biggest question mark is whether Qatar Airways keeps going with the 787-9 variant, or orders the larger 787-10 variant, which seems well suited for the airline, given its higher capacity and sufficient range.

Bottom line

Qatar Airways has just placed a large wide body aircraft order with Boeing, for 160 jets. While Trump has claimed this is Boeing’s biggest order ever, and is worth $200 billion, we know for sure that last isn’t true, and it remains to be seen if that first part is true.

This order reportedly includes both the 777X and 787, which is logical, considering Qatar Airways’ fleet renewal needs, plus growth plans.

What do you make of Qatar Airways’ Boeing aircraft order?