Gulf global connector carrier Qatar Airways has activated its fleet of seven Boeing 787-9 aircraft on scheduled cargo-only flights operating routes to Bangkok, Brussels, Budapest, Dublin, Kuwait, London Heathrow, Maastricht, Mumbai, and Paris CDG.
The carrier is occasionally using non-converted Boeing 777-300(ER)’s to operate cargo-only flights to Dublin.
A7-BHG Boeing 787-9 MSN 64211 operated its first commercial revenue on 9th November QTR8864/5 routing Doha-London Heathrow-Dublin-Doha.
In October 2016 Boeing and Qatar Airways announced an order for 30 787-9 Dreamliners and 10 777-300ERs, valued at $11.7 billion at list prices. The airline was the first to operate the 787-8 in the Middle East. The 787-9, a stretch of the 787-8, can carries 290 passengers with a range of 7,530 nautical miles (13,950 km) in addition to more cargo capacity (154.4 cubic metres).
On 27 December 2019 the carrier took delivery of the first four aircraft which delivered to Doha to be formally delivered and where flown back to Victorville, California for cabin installation before re-delivery back to Doha in March 2020 where they stored until activation for cargo-only flights.
The seven Boeing 787-9s (A7-BHA/B/C/D/E/F/G) are expected to enter passenger service by end of March 2021 at start of IATA Summer 2021 season.
Image courtesy of Elevationair
Irish Aviation Research Institute © 9 November 2020 All Rights Reserved.