Airbus and Qatar Airways settle dispute in British Courts

The High Court in London is to decide whether Airbus must continue to supply A321neo aircraft to Qatar Airways amid a trade dispute between the two companies. 

The Qatari state is now seeking a court ruling to prevent the French company from cancelling the A321neo deal, which is linked to its refusal to take delivery of the A350 because of alleged safety failures.

Billions of dollars are at stake with the British court's decision in this commercial dispute that could mean the cessation of the French company's aircraft production for the Qatari airline, as reported by Al-Arab. 

Last January, Airbus cancelled the A321neo deal in response to Qatar's refusal to take delivery of the A350, amid safety concerns over the A350's safety related to alleged damage to the aircraft's surface. 

Qatar Airways has already sued Airbus in UK courts in December over surface and paint degradation on some Airbus 350XWBs and grounded up to 23 A350s. The Qatari company said it will not accept any more deliveries until the cause of the defect is formally explained and is now demanding more than $1 billion in compensation from Airbus, as reported by Al-Arab. 

The Gulf carrier will also ask the British Court on Thursday to extend an order preventing Airbus from revoking a contract for 50 A321neo aircraft destined for the Gulf carrier. 

Airbus took the decision in January to halt A321neo deliveries in retaliation for Qatar's refusal to take delivery of the A350, over which the Qatari airline cast doubt because of alleged major safety damage to the aircraft's surface. 

The decision to cancel the A321neo deal alarmed some airlines and the president of the International Air Transport Association (IATA) expressed concern over the decision to cut the Airbus A321neo deal, describing it as "disturbing" for the market.

Airbus accuses Qatar Airways, the A350's largest customer, of encouraging false safety concerns in the face of an ongoing legal claim worth more than $1 billion. 

Qatar Airways is defending its position to stop accepting A350 deliveries over what it describes as real safety concerns relating to breaches or corrosion in the lightning protection film in the face of exposure caused by cracked paint on more than 20 A350 aircraft.

Meanwhile, the French company denies any safety design flaws on the A350, although it does acknowledge paint flaws related to the characteristics of modern carbon aircraft, which need to be repainted in certain surface areas. The world's largest aircraft manufacturer acknowledges problems, but says that they are within reason, explaining that European regulators consider the aircraft to be airworthy and that other airlines continue to use them. 

In response, Qatar Airways says the paint cracking mishap, which leads to erosion of the lightning protection layer surrounding the carbon fuselage, is due to a flaw in the aircraft's design, as reported by Al-Arab. 

According to Reuters, other airlines were affected, but, with the exception of Qatar Airways, no aircraft were taken out of service except for surface repairs. For its part, the Qatari airline said that a thorough analysis should be carried out rather than continuing to purchase the A350. 

The UK Court is now expected to look further into the matter to detail aspects of the dispute and a process of dialogue could be opened between the two sides in order to reach an agreement. An understanding that could be reached more easily due to the current world situation totally affected by the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the need to ensure gas energy supplies due to the energy service restrictions that may be established from Russia, Europe's main gas supplier, in view of which it is very necessary to guarantee other alternative sources such as those of the Qatari country.