Qatar Airways to phase out A346 by late 2008

[hansonator69]

Qatar Airways will phase out the Airbus A340-600HGW in favor of the Boeing 777-300ER by late 2008. 4 out of the 10 A346s QR ordered have been delivered, the other six cancelled. The A340 does consume a lot of fuel, and the 773ER does have more range, not to mention better fuel economy. More proof of how the 777 is better than the A340.

[Will M]

The A340 does consume a lot of fuel, and the 773ER does have more range, not to mention better fuel economy. More proof of how the 777 is better than the A340.

Happen to have the source link handy or are you posting your own personal opinions ??

[AASuper80Fan]

Could anyone see USAir going after these 4 possibly? I know there first choice is A343 Equipment for China.

[MaxPower]

That's a major setback for Airbus, 6 A346's doesnt sound much, but it is definitely felt at Airbus. Althought the A350 hasnt flown out from the drawingboard yet, I guess they should do something with the A340, make it more fuel efficient.

How about an A340-400ULR (Ultra Long Range) ?

[DAL767-400ER]

Sure would be nice to at least have a link to a news source when posting a new thread :rolleyes: . Like here:

http://www.jetphotos.net/news/index.php?blog=1&title=qatar-airways-to-phase-out-the-a340-600s&more=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1

Happen to have the source link handy or are you posting your own personal opinions ??

That the 77W has more range than the A346 is a fact, even though the still rather mysterious A346HGW is supposed to have the same range.

Could anyone see USAir going after these 4 possibly? I know there first choice is A343 Equipment for China.

Going after them? Yes. Fill them at a profit? Doubtful.

How about an A340-400ULR (Ultra Long Range) ?

How about no new A340 version at all? If the recent months have told Airbus anything is that safe for a few follow-up orders and A380 orders, nobody wants 4-holers anymore. And the fact that QR and CX have chosen to replace their A346s with 77Ws, plus having EK and AC not even taking delivery of their A346s to begin with is an even clearer sign.

[AA 1818]

Ok, so I have to ask, when the A340s (latter versions - the A345 and A346) were being developed, what was the allure - what was the niche that made people want the aircraft? I mean, I know that the range of the A345 attracted a few customers, but then again, when the 777 came on why did they not just walk away?

And why are they even continuing the A340 line? Why not just allow key facets to be shifted to A350 and probably see a faster EIS of the A350 (which will replace it...).

[porter guy]

they want to get rid of the 346 already? thats like ACA getting rid of their 345 after waht 3 years?

[DAL767-400ER]

Ok, so I have to ask, when the A340s (latter versions - the A345 and A346) were being developed, what was the allure - what was the niche that made people want the aircraft? I mean, I know that the range of the A345 attracted a few customers, but then again, when the 777 came on why did they not just walk away?

Consider that the A340NG were launched 3 years before Boeing launched the 777NG, and that time the A340-500 was the longest-range plane in the world, and the A346 was seen as an ideal replacement for ageing 747s across the globe. The A345, just like the 77L, was always seen as just a niche plane anyway, and I doubt anyone at Airbus really expected too many sales. As for the A346/77W battle, while it was always known that the 77W would be a good plane, it was only during the flight tests that Boeing and the airlines realised just what an awesome performance maschine they had in front of them, which pretty much sealed the fate of the A346, and even the proposed A346HGW didn't help the A346 from being outsold by the 77W 1-to-3.

And why are they even continuing the A340 line? Why not just allow key facets to be shifted to A350 and probably see a faster EIS of the A350 (which will replace it...).

Multiple factors. The airlines that still have A340s on order still want them, mostly because they already operate a sizeable A340 fleet and don't yet want to commit to either the A350 or 787 (see Lufthansa); there are so few A340s left on order that there won't be any left to be built by the time the first A350 will be assembled; and after all, the A330 and A340 still share the same line, and with the large backlog of around 340 planes the A330 line will be putting out new planes for quite a few years even once A350 production is ramping up. Of course, that's depending on where Airbus will actually assemble the A350, whether it's in TLS using the old A320 line which would then be moved to XFW, final assembly in TLS and XFW, final assembly outside of Europe, or alternatively move the A330 line outside of Europe, etc.

[hansonator69]

QR ordered the A350-1000, didn't they? What will this do to the QR 773ER fleet?

[hansonator69]

The A340 is a good airplane, but the let down is when you hear about it's fuel consumption. I reckon the only reason US ordered the 343 is: 1. cockpit commonality with the 330s and 2. using the 343 until the 350XWB comes.

[DAL767-400ER]

QR ordered the A350-1000, didn't they? What will this do to the QR 773ER fleet?

Most likely replace them. But for that to happen, consider that:
-there's still 10 years till the A350-1000 is scheduled to see EIS (pending it's on schedule)
-the A3510 would still have to proof that it is indeed the "77W-Killer" Airbus makes it out to be
-the Middle East Bubble will have gotten even larger by 2017 and might have actually burst by then

As for US, they haven't officially ordered the A343 yet, they only have provisions for it in their A330, but other than that the arguments are correct.

[Crunk415balla]

Glad to see Boeings joining the Qatar fleet. However, I'm shocked they're so quickly phasing out their A346 fleet.

[FlyingPhotog]

-there's still 10 years till the A350-1000 is scheduled to see EIS (pending it's on schedule)

So that means 12 years if the A380 program is any indication.

[AA 1818]

So that means 12 years if the A380 program is any indication.

LOL!