Qatar Airways delays launch of world’s longest flight

Airline cites hold-ups in deliveries of Airbus A350s as French plane maker falls further behind Boeing.

Qatar Airways' 17.5 hour service to Auckland had been due to start on December 3. EPA

Qatar Airways has delayed the launch of the world's longest direct flight – from Doha to Auckland, New Zealand – by two months because of the late delivery of Airbus A350s, an airline spokeswoman said.

“I can confirm we are looking at February. It is due to aircraft availability, specifically the delay of delivery of A350s,” the spokeswoman said.

Emirates in March bagged the title for the world's longest scheduled airline flight when one of its Boeing 777s touched down in Auckland after journeying 8,824 miles from Dubai. The Qatar Airways flight, starting from Doha, would extend that by some 200 miles.

Qatar Airways increased pressure on Europe’s Airbus over aircraft reliability last month, saying it had some “issues” with the A350 passenger jet barely a year after it entered service.

Its 17.5 hour service to Auckland had been due to start on December 3.

On Sunday, Qatar Airways said it was reducing the frequency of more than a dozen regular routes from Doha because of hold-ups in the delivery of new planes from Airbus.

The 15 affected routes include the carrier’s recently launched service to Adelaide in Australia, flights to Boston, Houston and Miami in the United States, and services to Copenhagen, Jakarta and Manchester.

“We are making selective flight cancellations in several markets … due to a delay in Airbus aircraft deliveries,” the spokesperson said in a statement.

“We are minimising the impact on our passengers as much as possible, and accommodating them on other flights that suit their travel needs. The flight cancellations are taking the form of one flight per week in most of the affected markets through the summer.”

Airbus continued to be hampered by slow deliveries of its latest models of jets in April, handing over just one A320neo aircraft to the Indian budget carrier IndiGo and delivering two long-haul A350 aircraft to remain well behind rival Boeing.

The plane maker, which has been hit by engine problems on the latest version of its best-selling A320 and cabin equipment delays on the A350, delivered a total of 177 planes between January and April, down from 196 a year earlier.

Boeing was already expected to maintain its position as the world’s largest plane manufacturer this year, but extended its lead with 230 deliveries between January and April.

Airbus’ deliveries so far this year include six A320neos, fewer than expected as it starts a tight, two-year model switch on its main production line. It also delivered six A350s, according to company data published on Tuesday.

Airbus aims to deliver more than 50 A350s in 2016, leaving what some analysts describe as a steep target for the second half of the year.

Deliveries of A320neo jets have been hit by technical problems with engines from Pratt & Whitney, leaving semi-finished jets at European factories and draining cash.

There have also been some concerns about the aircraft’s hydraulic systems.

Orders for new Airbus jets picked up sharply in April after a slow first quarter, but failed to close a gap with its rival.

Airbus won 117 orders between January and April, or a net total of 92 after adjusting for cancellations and conversions between different models.

Boeing posted 174 gross orders between January 1 and May 2, or 156 after stripping out cancellations and conversions.

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