In the conflict that has been raging since last year Qatar Airways to AirbusThere has been no let-up in the dispute. Qatar Airways had been complaining for several months about the deterioration of the paintwork on the fuselage of its Airbus A350 aircraft.
The company explains thatdeterioration of the surface threatens passenger safety. Qatar Airways states that " degradation of the paint layer exposes and damages the aircraft's lightning protection system" . The carrier goes on to say that the " The underlying composite structure is exposed to humidity and ultraviolet rays. Other defects...
In the conflict that has been raging since last year Qatar Airways to AirbusThere has been no let-up in the dispute. Qatar Airways had been complaining for several months about the deterioration of the paintwork on the fuselage of its Airbus A350 aircraft.
The company explains thatdeterioration of the surface threatens passenger safety. Qatar Airways states that " degradation of the paint layer exposes and damages the aircraft's lightning protection system" . The carrier goes on to say that the " The underlying composite structure is exposed to moisture and ultraviolet rays. Other defects include cracks in the composite and damage around a high percentage of rivets on the aircraft fuselage." .
More than $618 million in compensation
Qatari civil aviation has ordered the grounding of the A350s, Qatar Airways has grounded 21 aircraft. As a result, the damage has been taken to court. The company estimates that 618 million the compensation to which it would be entitled from the European aircraft manufacturer. It also imposed a penalty of 4 million dollars per day for the grounding of its aircraft.
Airbus, of course, rejects the dangerous nature of the damage reported by Qatar Airways. The European aircraft manufacturer states that the cause of the problem has been identified and that the airworthiness of the aircraft is not in question.. This was recently confirmed by the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA).
Airbus has since decided to cancel a contract for the delivery of 50 A321 Neo aircraft.. A contract worth more than five billion dollars signed some ten years ago. Ten of the aircraft were to be LR versions, i.e. long-haul aircraft. This gives Airbus a strong position in this type of aircraft, where it has no real competition.
For Qatar Airways, theThe cancellation of this order could partly hinder the pace of its development. The aircraft should have served routes with less passenger traffic. They would also have enabled routes with heavy seasonal traffic to be continued into the low season, or would have enabled frequencies to be increased on certain routes. So the hunt is on for an alternative to the A321neo... barring a last-minute agreement.
