With Qatar Airways set to deploy the Boeing 737 MAX 8 for its short-haul operations, the carrier's
new Boeing narrowbodies will apparently be coming indirectly from an order placed by Russian airline
S7. Fleet data reveals that at least nine MAX 8s destined for the oneworld Alliance member
were initially ordered by S7 but have now been made undeliverable due to sanctions prompted by
Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Let’s look at which airframes are headed to Qatar in today’s video…
According to Planespotters.net, nine Boeing 737 MAX 8s are due to go to
Qatar Airways. The registrations (and former registrations) for these aircraft are shown here.
Examining data from ch-aviation.com, S7's 737 MAX jets came from a 2012 order placed by Air
Lease Corporation. The Russian carrier's first 737 MAX was delivered in 2018,
although the 737 MAX crisis put an end to 737 MAX operations and deliveries to Russia.
Throughout the pandemic, the country's regulators dragged their heels in re-certifying the type for
service after the global grounding, even though other major regulators had cleared the MAX to
resume passenger operations. The FAA was among the first, clearing the type in November 2020.
While Russian New Agency Tass would report that MAX recertification was quote-unquote
"in progress" as of early February 2022, the government's decision to invade Ukraine,
and the sanctions that followed, would kill any hope of the type returning to Russian skies.
Qatar Airways has had an interesting and unconventional relationship when it
comes to the Boeing 737 MAX. The airline placed an order for the type years ago,
with the jets destined to serve with Air Italy - an airline that Qatar Airways had a 49% stake in.
The Italian carrier would ultimately cease operations, but Qatar Airways stated that
the 737s from the airline would not make their way into its own Doha-based flights.
Amid an increasingly tense legal battle with Airbus and the cancelation of its A321neo order,
Qatar Airways would turn to Boeing to fulfill its fleet modernization goals.
The airline placed a massive order for 737 MAX 10s, while also going public as the launch
customer for the 777X freighter. While the airline has since settled its dispute with Airbus and had
all orders with the European planemaker restored, it has held on to its commitments with Boeing.
If we go with data from ch-aviation.com, the airline is still listed as expecting
25 737 MAX 10s from Boeing as well as its full, original A321neo order from Airbus.
It's quite possible, however, that the airline has since adjusted its
commitment with Boeing and swapped some 737 MAX 10s for some orphaned MAX 8s.
With many of the airline's A320-200s now over a decade old, it would make sense that the
MAX 8 is Qatar Airways' choice to replace the Airbus jets. Indeed, Airways Magazine
reported that the airline had announced plans to introduce the Boeing jet on short-haul sectors.
Qatar Airways joins the Turkish Airlines group in picking up 737 MAX
jets initially meant for S7. Last June we reported that five 737-8s meant for
S7 had been delivered to Turkish Airlines subsidiary, AnadoluJet.
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