Doha, September 09 (QNA) - The State of Qatar's national carrier has navigated multiple major challenges in recent years and emerged from them stronger and more efficient, thanks to the proactive plans it has pursued to prepare for the worst-case scenarios and circumstances, Chief Technology Officer of Qatar Airways, Eng. Ali Al Saadi, assured Qatar News Agency (QNA).
Al Saadi was speaking during a media open day organized by Qatar Airways Wednesday to showcase some of its key facilities, including its Integrated Operations Center (IOC), aircraft maintenance and repair facilities, and Disruption Management and Customer Support Center at Hamad International Airport (HIA).
He highlighted that this resilience is underpinned by a clear vision from executive leadership that gives passenger safety and the airline's interests overriding priority, along with coordination across its different departments to ensure operational continuity and on-time performance for nearly 600 daily flights to more than 160 destinations worldwide.
The responsibility for the carrier's operational readiness is vested in the Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul Center (MRO), he added, stating that MRO is the lynchpin of the carrier, as well as one of the foremost state-of-the-art and largest centers on the world stage.
Al Saadi highlighted that the center spans a vast area equivalent to the size of 13 football fields. The total value of the center's assets and inventory is approximately $4 billion, excluding the value of the aircraft housed there.
The center includes a massive warehouse for spare parts and equipment valued at between $1.5 billion and $2 billion, he said, stating that the facility houses an entire engine facility with almost 80 engines, valued at nearly $2 billion, making it one of the largest airline spare-parts inventories in the world.
On the operational and engineering aspects, Al Saadi said the center can accommodate 14 aircraft at a time and performs approximately 170 heavy maintenance events and about 15,000 light maintenance events annually through 22 shops, including specialized electrical, maintenance and safety sections, as well as airframe shops responsible for work on aircraft fuselages, aluminum structures and equipment used onboard aircraft.
As part of its innovation and fleet modernization efforts, Eng. Al Saadi noted that Qatar Airways is leading the global aviation industry in deploying the latest technologies, as comprehensive cabin modernization continues across its fleet, including the installation of its flagship Qsuite seats, alongside an expanding rollout of high-speed Starlink Wi-Fi across its aircraft.
The center also focuses on investing in workforce development and developing national leaders in support of Qatar National Vision 2030, he recalled. (QNA)