Qatar Airways has taken delivery of its very first Boeing 737 MAX.
The aircraft, a MAX 8, departed Everett Paine Field on April 13th for its lengthy ferry
service to the airline's Doha base.
The incoming MAX 8s, some of which were ordered by Russia's S7, should be replacing the airline's
older Airbus A320-200s and will operate shorter international flights.
The airframe that will be Qatar Airways' very first Boeing 737 MAX is now registered A7-BSC.
Prior to having a Qatari registration, the jet had test registration N4022T but was supposed
to eventually take registration VP-BXJ.
Its manufacturer's serial number (MSN) is 43329, with Line No. 8134.
Planespotters.net data indicates that this aircraft is configured with eight seats in
business and another 168 in economy class.
This aircraft was initially ordered by Russia's S7 Airlines and had its first flight on December
10th, 2021.
As Russia delayed re-certifying the MAX, the aircraft was sent straight to storage before
performing subsequent test flights across February, March, and April 2023.
In total, the jet had amassed approximately eight-and-a-half hours of test-flight time
across seven flights.
The ferry flight began with A7-BSC departing Everett Paine Field at 09:36 local time on
April 13th, flying to Iceland's Keflavik airport for a technical stop to refuel.
The aircraft departed iceland on the evening of April 14th, and arrived in Doha nine hours
later.
At the time of this video’s production, there has been one test flight operated by
the airline, which was conducted on April 16th.
As we mentioned in a previous video, at least nine of Qatar Airways 'new' 737 MAX 8s will
come from an order placed by Russia's S7.
Of course, these S7-ordered aircraft have been made undeliverable due to sanctions prompted
by Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
The 737 MAX 8 will fly alongside Qatar Airways' Airbus A320-200 aircraft.
The airline currently operates 29 of these Airbus aircraft, with its oldest being about
13-and-a-half years of age.
Its youngest A320-200 is seven-and-a-half years at the time of production.
Overall, the A320-200 fleet has an average age of nearly 11 years.
Since a core concern of Qatar Airways is having a young and modern fleet of aircraft, the
A320s are 'aging out' of the airline's preferred age.
Thus, the 737 MAX will help Qatar Airways achieve and maintain its goal of operating
a young fleet of aircraft.
Current destinations where the A320-200 is deployed are numerous.
However, examining the furthest destinations on FlightRadar24.com, we can see that the
Airbus narrowbody flies as far as Zagreb (Croatia), Zanzibar (Tanzania), Hyderabad (India), and
Tbilisi (Georgia).
Perhaps, in time, we'll see the MAX 8 operating routes like these as well.
Despite the big news of Qatar now having a 737 MAX, it’s worth noting that the Boeing
narrowbody remains absent from the "Fleet" page of Qatar Airways' website.
Are you looking forward to Qatar Airways beginning Boeing 737 MAX operations?
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