A Qatar Airways spokesperson said the voluntary short-term secondment opportunity offered valuable flying opportunities for pilots.
Qatar Airways has retired its last Airbus A330 passenger jets and seconded some pilots to Rwanda's flag carrier as the prolonged Iran war disrupts Gulf aviation and accelerates the global phase-out of older jets, Reuters reports citing people with knowledge of the matter.
The move is the latest sign of the impact of a doubling of jet fuel prices since the war began, ending an industry-wide scramble for older jets to meet post-COVID travel demand.
Qatar Airways leased four Airbus wide-body A330 jets from Oman Air last year and planned to keep flying them through 2026, but the aircraft never entered commercial service, the people said. The carrier has now fully retired its A330 fleet.
One of the A330s was acquired earlier this year by Rwandan flag carrier RwandAir.
Qatar Airways has longstanding ties to the airline and the people said a group of pilots, some of whom had not flown commercially since the start of the war, have been seconded to RwandAir.
The secondments and details of the fleet retirements have not previously been reported.
A Qatar Airways spokesperson said it was normal for the airline to regularly review its fleet, "retiring older aircraft and introducing newer, more efficient aircraft as they are delivered".
In the next five years it expects to receive 138 new aircraft, the spokesperson added.
‘Short-term secondment’
"A group of Qatar Airways A330 pilots are being offered a voluntary short-term secondment opportunity with RwandAir," the Qatar Airways spokesperson said, adding the scheme offered valuable flying opportunities for pilots while supporting the operational requirements of both airlines, without saying how long the secondment would last.
The secondment of just over a dozen staff to RwandAir would ensure pilots trained to fly A330s can continue flying, the spokesperson said.
Airlines do sometimes offer secondments to their pilots based on international partnerships with other carriers.
RwandAir, which has a codeshare agreement with Qatar, did not respond to a request for comment. It said in a post on X in August that it had received the first of five expected A330 jets.
Qatar Airways continues to take delivery of new jets. It has received two large wide-body jets each from Airbus and Boeing this year, company data shows.
The Qatar Airways spokesperson said that between September 2026 and the end of 2027, the carrier was planning 6 aircraft exits and 19 new plane deliveries.
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