Qatar Airways has confirmed a firm order for 20 additional Airbus A350-1000 aircraft, valued at approximately USD 7 billion at list prices, taking its total A350 family order book to 94 aircraft. The latest order, announced at the June 2026 Paris Air Show, supports the airline’s fleet expansion strategy aimed at launching 70 new or resumed routes by 2030 while replacing aging Boeing 777-200LR aircraft on long-haul thin routes where the A350-1000’s superior fuel efficiency delivers decisive operating cost advantages.
Strategic Routes and Network Expansion
Qatar Airways CEO Engr. Badr Mohammed Al-Meer confirmed that the new aircraft will be deployed on new South American routes, specifically Bogotá and Lima, alongside capacity increases on high-demand corridors to Australia, Japan, and West Africa. The airline currently serves 170 destinations from Hamad International Airport (HIA); the 2030 target of 240 destinations would make Qatar Airways’ route network comparable in scale to Emirates and Etihad combined.
Hamad International Airport Expansion
The aircraft order aligns with HIA’s concurrent terminal expansion, a USD 2.4 billion project that will increase the airport’s annual handling capacity from 50 million to 80 million passengers by 2027. Qatar’s aviation sector generated USD 18.4 billion in economic contribution in 2025, representing 11 percent of the country’s non-hydrocarbon GDP, the highest aviation-to-GDP ratio of any GCC nation.
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