Oman Air is considering splitting its planned widebody order between Airbus A350s and Boeing 787 Dreamliners to nurture political relations and minimise disruptions from
technical outages, according to a Bloomberg report. The Gulf carrier, which plans to go ahead with next year’s slated purchase of 15 new jets despite tough business conditions, will decide on the deal’s composition at a board meeting in September, chief executive officer Paul Gregorowitsch said in an interview in New Delhi. “We have to mitigate risks and not only look at the economic advantages of having a single widebody fleet,” he said, referring to the lower acquisition and maintenance costs that come with a single manufacturer.
Single-supplier fleets can hurt an airline if technical problems arise and “and politically it is very important for Oman as well to trade with the US and with Europe,” he said.
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