Qatar Airways considers Airbus after Boeing 787 Dreamliner debacle

In the wake of the grounding of Boeing 787 Dreamliners, Qatar Airways is considering other purchase options.

On Monday, Qatar Airways Chief Executive Akbar Al Baker said that the carrier has had to forego $200 million in lost revenue up until April 2013 due to the grounding of Dreamliner craft and resultant production delays. Boeing 787 Dreamliners were prevented from flying across the globe after a number of problems dogged the craft, including battery failures, fires and concerns over the safety of wing components.

Although Boeing will give the carrer compensation after the Dreamliners were grounded by U.S. regulators and planes are now expected to be back in the air by the end of May, Qatar Airways is in talks with Airbus to buy up to 15 of its A330 passenger jets due to the Boeing 787 Dreamliner production delays.

The deal is potentially worth $3.6 billion.

European producer Airbus has seen a surge in A330 sales due to the Boeing 787 issues, although Boeing plans to launch a new 320-seat 787 -- codenamed 787-10X -- which the carrier hopes will revive the plane's appeal.

"The 787 should be an A330 killer but it is late and the penalty payments (from Boeing to airlines) are coming straight to Airbus in the form of new A330 sales," an aerospace analyst at the Teal Group consultancy told Reuters.

Read More: Reuters

Image credit: Kentaro

This post was originally published on Smartplanet.com