Qatar Airways retires A330 passenger fleet, sends pilots to RwandAir

Qatar Airways has retired its remaining Airbus A330 passenger aircraft and is offering some pilots temporary assignments with RwandAir, the national airline of Rwanda.

The airline confirmed that A330 pilots were being offered voluntary, short-term assignments.

The retirement follows several months during which Qatar’s A330s have sat idle. Flight histories show that Qatar’s A330s operated scheduled services until February 28, 2026, when disruption associated with the Iran war grounded the fleet.

Air Data News identified A330-200 A7-ACW among the aircraft active immediately before the disruption, including a February 28 flight from Karachi to Doha. It also reported that several A330s subsequently moved to storage in Teruel, Spain, with some later returning to Qatar but remaining out of commercial service.

Qatar Airways and RwandAir signed a codeshare agreement in October 2021 covering more than 65 destinations across Africa and other regions.

Under a codeshare, an airline can sell seats under its own flight number on services operated by its partner. Qatar Airways continues to describe the partnership as connecting RwandAir’s Kigali hub with its international network through Doha.

Qatar’s A330 fleet numbered roughly 17 aircraft in March. One has since gone to RwandAir and two leased jets are due to go back to Jetran in October 2026. The eventual fate of the remaining aircraft is unclear.The post Qatar Airways retires A330 passenger fleet, sends pilots to RwandAir appeared first on AeroTime.

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