Qatar Airways places additional order for 20 Boeing 777-9 jets at Farnborough Airshow

Deal takes Gulf airline's 777X order book to 94 aircraft

Qatar Airways has placed an order for an additional 20 Boeing 777-9 jets during the second day of the Farnborough International Airshow, taking its order book for the 777X family of aircraft to 94.

The order was finalised this year and listed as unidentified on Boeing's list of orders and deliveries, the US plane maker said on Tuesday.

The Doha-based airline now has 60 Boeing 777-9 passenger aircraft on order.

Qatar Airways is also the launch customer for the 777-8 freighter and has 34 of that cargo model on order.

"We appreciate their confidence that Boeing’s market-leading widebody family will provide outstanding fuel efficiency and a superior passenger experience for its global operations," Stephanie Pope, Boeing's chief of commercial airplanes unit, said.

Qatar Airways' group chief executive Badr Al Meer in June said the airline was in discussions with Airbus and Boeing about a wide-body aircraft order.

The order was in the three-digit range, the airline boss told reporters on the sidelines of the 80th International Air Transport Association's annual meeting in Dubai.

In addition to the 777X jets, Qatar Airways has ordered 12 of the 787 Dreamliner and 25 of the 737 Max models.

The airline's new business class seat, the QSuite Next-Gen, will be available onboard the airline's Boeing 777X starting from the fourth quarter of 2025, Xia Cai, Qatar Airways' senior vice president of product development, told reporters at product reveal on Monday.

Emirates' boss Tim Clark said on Monday that he expects the first of the company's 205 Boeing 777X aircraft to enter service by 2026, extending delays on the programme, after the wide-body aircraft attains full certification at the end of 2025.

Airshow orders

During the second day of Farnborough, plane makers Boeing and Airbus won deals from airlines for a mix of both narrow-body and wide-body aircraft.

After Boeing dominated the first day of the airshow with 56 firm orders and 22 options, Airbus on Tuesday kicked off the day with an announcement by Virgin Atlantic. The airline placed a firm order for seven A330 Neo aircraft as part of its wider fleet transformation. The agreement takes Virgin Atlantic’s commitment for the A330 Neo to 19 jets in total.

The European plane maker also signed an agreement at the end of the day with Libyan carrier Berniq Airways, which placed a firm order for six A320 Neo family aircraft.

The airline already operates six A320s and plans to further develop its regional and international routes with the additional A320 Neos.

Airbus also finalised an order with Japan Airlines for 20 of the A350-900s and 11 A321 Neo jets.

Besides Qatar Airways, Boeing also announced a deal with lessor Macquarie Airfinance.

The lessor made its first direct order for Boeing airplanes with the purchase of 20 737-8s. The deal doubles Macquarie AirFinance's existing 737-8 order book, which it acquired from Kuwait's Alafco Aviation Lease and Finance in 2023.

Flydubai reiterated that it is in "early stages" of discussions with Airbus and Boeing for a new plane order as part of its growth ambitions, an airline representative said.