Qatar Air’s CEO isn’t going to buy Boeing’s new long-haul jet without more details

Qatar Airways Ltd. wants more information from Boeing Co. on its 777X before placing an order for the long-haul jet the U.S. planemaker has begun marketing.

“We want more technical details and more clarification,” said Akbar Al Baker, chief executive officer of the Persian Gulf’s second-largest airline. The carrier won’t place an order at the Paris Air Show starting June 17, he said, after signaling earlier it may announce a deal at the event.

“It is too short a time since the program was launched,” Al Baker said in an interview at the IATA annual general meeting in Cape Town today. Qatar’s next 777 order will be for the new model available from about 2020, Al Baker said. Boeing began formally marketing the plane last month, as it works on an update of the 777 featuring new wings and engines.

The Doha-based carrier, an operator of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, has no plans to buy the largest version, the 787-10X, Al Baker said. Singapore Airlines Ltd. on May 30 became the first carrier to sign for the jet, provided the Chicago- based aircraftmaker’s board gives the go ahead to build the model.

Editor: Benedikt Kammel. To contact the reporter on this story: Robert Wall in London at [email protected]. To contact the editor responsible for this story: Benedikt Kammel at [email protected].