Qatar Airways has retired its last Airbus A330 passenger jets and is offering a voluntary short-term secondment for a group of A330 pilots to RwandAir. The move links fleet changes in Doha with RwandAir’s growing A330 operation, as one of Qatar Airways’ former A330s has already transferred to the Rwandan carrier.
The airline had leased four A330s from Oman Air last year, but none entered service, and two aircraft parked in Doha are due back to lessor Jetran in October. More than a dozen staff are involved in the secondment, including pilots who had not flown commercially since the Iran war began. The arrangement gives type-rated crews a chance to stay current while supporting RwandAir’s operations.
RwandAir received its first of five expected A330s in August, and the aircraft is already in commercial use on European routes. Qatar Airways’ fleet reshuffle comes amid high fuel costs and wider Gulf aviation disruption linked to the war, which has made older wide-body aircraft less economical to operate.