At least officially, Gulf carrier Qatar Airways has not ordered any Boeing 737-Max-8 machines. A few days ago, a machine showing the tail unit of the Doha-based carrier was sighted in a Boeing plant. Now N5573K was photographed at Portland International Airport. The aircraft mainly carries the livery of S7 Airlines, but at least partly the colors of Qatar Airways on the tail unit.

The US manufacturer often has painting work carried out at the airport mentioned. It is hardly a coincidence that a Boeing 7 Max 737 originally intended for S8 Airlines was given a new color scheme before delivery to a customer. Due to the sanctions imposed on the Russian Federation in the wake of the military attack on Ukraine, neither aircraft nor spare parts may be delivered to Russian carriers. As a result, Boeing, Airbus and the lessor are trying to accommodate the orders that cannot be handed over elsewhere.

Not every machine is repainted "ex works". For example, Corendon was given an aircraft in Belavia colors, but this livery was quickly discarded. Turkish Airlines has been flying with a color scheme strongly reminiscent of Aeroflot for some time. This also earned the carrier the derisive name "Turkoflot".

In relation to Qatar Airways, the fact is that the second machine with clear livery on the tail was already sighted, quite exciting. Officially, this Gulf carrier has not yet committed to a Boeing 737 Max 8 order. This type does not appear in the manufacturer's order lists either. It can therefore be assumed that one is purchasing from lease boars, because in this case the actual customer, i.e. the lessor, appears in the pipeline. But: Qatar Airways has not commented on the sightings until the very end. There is no communication at all in relation to questions on the two B737-Max, which show obvious Qatar branding on the tail. At most, one points out that one will comment if there is any news.

In October 2016, Qatar Airways announced that it had signed an agreement with Boeing to purchase 30 787-9s and 10 777-300ERs. The agreement also included a Letter of Intent (LoI) for 60 737 Max-8s. So far, however, no formal purchase agreement has been communicated. However, in June 2017, Qatar Airways Chief Executive Officer Akbar Al Baker stated that the airline would not operate the 737 Max because the aircraft were "designated for investment in other airlines".

In its latest financial report for the 2021/2022 financial year ended March 31, 2022, the Qatari airline announced that it had recognized "certain impairments of its fleet of A380, A330 and B737 Max aircraft, which are unlikely to be used in operations, checked”. Boeing has not delivered a single 737 to the airline since its inception. In 1994, the airline briefly operated a Boeing 737-200.