Qatar Airways has upgraded five Airbus A350-900s currently on order to the larger A350-1000.

The airline was the launch customer for both variants and already has 28 A350-900s and four A350-1000s in its fleet. With this conversion, Qatar Airways now has six A350-900s and 38 A350-1000s on order.

“Qatar Airways is delighted to have upgraded five of its previously ordered A350-900 to the more recently launched A350-1000,” said Akbar Al Baker, group chief executive of Qatar Airways. “Since taking delivery of the world’s first A350-1000 in February 2018, we have been extremely pleased with the aircraft’s performance, which has prompted us to update our original order.”

The A350-1000 is seven metres longer than the A350-900 and is currently operated by Qatar Airways on routes to London, Frankfurt and New York.

“Since its entry into service, the A350 family has proven outstanding reliability and efficiency,” said Guillaume Faury, president of Airbus Commercial Aircraft. “We are delighted to see launch customer Qatar Airways extend its confidence in the A350-1000.”