Qatar Airways has issued new statement on fight with Airbus
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – Yesterday, Al Jazeera ran stories on a spat between Qatar Airways and Airbus Airbus over the aircraft builder’s cancellation of a $6bn contract with Qatar Airways.
This is escalating a legal battle between the two companies over paint on the recently delivered A350s. The contract with Airbus was for 50 of new A321neo passenger jets.
Qatar Airways says Airbus’s decision on Friday is “a matter of considerable regret and frustration”.
Following a series of alleged problems with the Airbus A350 aircraft, Qatar Airways took Airbus to court in London in December.
On January 20, 2022, Qatar Airways, through the legal proceedings against Airbus in the Technology & Construction division of the High Court in England, sought an expedited hearing of a preliminary issue to address serious and legitimate safety concerns regarding the surface degradation condition adversely impacting our Airbus A350 fleet.
“This has resulted so far in 21 Airbus A350 aircraft being grounded. As this video clearly shows, these defects are not superficial. One of the defects causes the aircraft’s lightning protection system to be exposed and damaged. Another defect leaves the underlying composite structure exposed to moisture and ultraviolet light. And other defects include cracking in the composite and damage around a high percentage of rivets on the aircraft fuselage.
Resolution
“We welcome the decision of the court to expedite this issue and order a hearing in April,” says the airline. It says it is supportive of the effort to bring about a more rapid resolution to the dispute.
“We continue to strongly believe that Airbus must undertake a thorough investigation of this condition. It is to conclusively establish the full root cause in order to establish whether any proposed repair solution will rectify the underlying condition.”
The airline says it is also to ensure no risk to the continued airworthiness of the aircraft.
“Qatar Airways’ number one priority remains the safety of its passengers and crew. For this reason, all affected aircraft remain grounded, and we are unable to accept delivery of further aircraft tendered for delivery by Airbus.
“Airbus has responded by seeking to cancel an entirely separate contract for the delivery of 50 A321 Neo aircraft. We confirm that we are adhering to all of our obligations under all applicable contracts. It is therefore a matter of considerable regret and frustration that Airbus has taken the apparent decision to expand and escalate this dispute.
“We continue to urge Airbus to undertake a satisfactory root cause analysis into the cause of the defects, as it is required to do. Qatar Airways remains prepared to help with the root cause analysis however it can. In the meantime, we will continue to robustly defend our position in the legal proceedings.”