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Qatar Airways Sues Airbus Over Ongoing A350 Paint Dispute

Qatar Airways Sues Airbus Over Ongoing A350 Paint Dispute

Qatar Airways is suing Airbus SE at the High Court in London, escalating a dispute between the aircraft manufacturer and one of its biggest customers.

The move comes after a months-long battle which has seen Qatar stop taking deliveries of the A350 widebody and lash out publicly at Airbus over the paint and surface quality of the planes. Airbus this month took the unusual step of issuing a statement criticizing its customer’s “ongoing mischaracterization” of the issue and said it has been preparing for an independent legal review. 

Qatar said in a statement late Monday it would lodge a case and is seeking a rapid resolution. The carrier, which has had 21 aircraft idled on safety grounds by its local regulator, started a legal process “to ensure that Airbus will now address our legitimate concerns without further delay.”

Airbus confirmed Monday it has received a formal claim and is in the process of analyzing the contents, stating it “intends to vigorously defend its position.’ The shares gained 1.3% as of 10:38 a.m. in Paris.

Surface Issues

Airbus has acknowledged surface degradation issues have affected other customers, though it maintains they are non-structural, stemming from differing thermal properties of the A350’s carbon-composite shell, its outer paint coatings and a layer of copper lightning protection. Each are affected by temperature swings which can be extreme in Doha, where highs average 108 degrees Farenheit in July. 

The company has said it’s weighing longer-term solutions including replacing the expanded copper foil with a different material on future aircraft. 

While Qatar’s aviation regulator has grounded some A350s, the European Union Aviation Safety Agency has so far backed Airbus on the safety of the model. It nevertheless issued a proposed airworthiness bulletin on a separate A350 issue earlier this month, after finding 13 aircraft may have had missing sections of copper foil wrap.

EASA Finds Airbus Safety Flaw With Missing A350 Copper Wrap 

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