The Asian Times reports that Boeing has won a contract in Qatar that was previously thought to be going to Airbus. Is this the much-rumored big 772LR purchase that has been discussed for the past year or so. Some members of the MiddleEast Aviation chat board are saying that it's actually a mix of 772LR/773ER or 773ER alone. Can anyone verify this? Hamlet?


The source is: http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/EE23Ak01.html


"The official campaign in the United States is being mirrored by a new business war. US companies such as Boeing and the oil giant Exxon have launched a drive to push French competitors out of the market. Exxon and Boeing recently won contracts in Qatar that had been sought also by their European rivals Total and Airbus. The US universities Princeton and Cornell have won contracts to develop university campuses in the Qatari capital Doha against French competition."

[Edited 2003-05-23 21:05:51]

IMHO that is a little premature. There has been no confirmation yet.

But it certainly would be good news for Boeing.

Jeremiah

Or better yet... does anyone even know for sure if this is really even an order... the article is vague; it could be a defesne contract or something along those lines as well.

Well I also wonder why on earth an Asia Times journalist would know something mentioned nowhere else? No other newspaper seems to have carried this story.

Jeremiah

[Edited 2003-05-23 21:14:34]

You think the US-Qatar free trade agreement has something to do with Qatar Airways choosing the 772LR and 773ER.

If this turns out to be true, the Triple 7 is going to look stunning in Qatar colors!

Wasn`t the order thought to be announced at the Paris Airshow?


raggi

I agree Raggi.


Also, the QR livery will be the only livery to thus far be applied to both a A340NG and 777NGs.... however, it appears CX/SQ/EK/etc may eventually duplicate that distinction as well  

The 777-200LR will definately look good in Qatar's colors. If Boeing has indeed won this order, then it is indeed a triumph over their competitors who were thought to be shoe ins.

I'm starting to wonder if this contract was along the lines of defense equipment or something of that nature.... there's been no corroboration from any other source, and the article did speak of government interaction.

Off on a tangent...

Didn't Boeing announce it had sold 5 bizjets earlier this month, without naming buyers? The Gulf is still a strong market for bizjets these days...

There are no articles on Janes' that contain both "Boeing" and "Qatar", so it's probably not something purely military.

Well, nothing is also reported on Boeing's orders site... but then again, they've been notoriously slow to update it at times.

Interesting that this year is halfway finished, and all that's been sold are a relative few number of 737s and a single 747  

"Interesting that this year is halfway finished, and all that's been sold are a relative few number of 737s and a single 747 "

And a 100 new KC-767s, plus future orders for another 400+.

http://biz.yahoo.com/rb/030523/arms_boeing_tankers_11.html

Not able to find news about this order.
However, I have to say that I do not consider this article as reliable.
1 example: it says at the end that Mr Powell visited Germany and Russia last week, but not France, as a retaliation.And that France didn't like it.
This is completely false. A visit in France was scheduled this week. And he was here in Paris this week.
That is the truth. And if you are a real journalist, it is very easy to verify, before writing an article.(and the job of a journalist is to verify from different and reliable sources before publishing)
Coming back to Qatar Airways, I think that with the current size of their fleet and their growth rate, introducing Boeing planes is premature. In the future, with a fleet of Airbus large enough (to take advantage of the comonality), I have no problem to see them buying Boeing.
Remember, when an airline chooses Boeing, it is good for jobs in Europe, and when the airline chooses Airbus, it is good for jobs in the US.
Toulouse or Seattle are just assembly lines. But components come from all around the world
Teva