Qatar Airways will be cutting the number of flights it currently makes to 24 routes this summer due to delays from Airbus .
The aircraft manufacturer Airbus was originally scheduled to deliver 80 A320neos by the end of 2015. However, these aircraft were delayed after problems with hydraulics and software were discovered. Akbar Al Baker, the CEO of Qatar Airways, has even threatened to walk "away from airplanes that do not meet Qatar Airways specifications."
For the time being, the airline has been forced to make cuts to its summer flight schedule affecting passengers traveling to Abu Dhabi, Bahrain, Dubai, Kathmandu, Kuala Lumpur, Kuwait City, Sharjah and Muscat starting in June. These destinations are in addition to 15 others that were announced earlier in the month due to the same issue.
According to Baker, the delays have also hindered the airline from launching flights to at least five new destinations. At the same time, the airline just launched flights to Armenia this week and will be launching flights to Atlanta in the United States on June 1.
Some of the affected destinations will see more serious cuts than others, but the airline is trying to assure passengers that they will be accommodated as much as possible:
"We are making selective flight cancellations in several markets due to a delay in Airbus aircraft deliveries. We are minimizing the impact on our passengers as much as possible… The flight cancellations are taking the form of one flight per week in most of the affected markets through the summer," a statement from the airline said, according to Doha News .