aircraft builder
Airbus terminates Qatar Airways contract for A321neo
An A321 jet in the assembly hall at the Airbus factory in Hamburg-Finkenwerder. Photo: Marcus Brandt/dpa
© dpa-infocom GmbH
A dispute enters a new round: Airbus is now refusing to deliver 50 ordered A321neo jets to the airline. This immediately affected the Airbus share on the stock exchange.
The dispute between Airbus and Qatar Airways is entering a new round. The aircraft manufacturer announced the airline an order for its new A321neo jet, which is currently difficult to obtain, as Airbus confirmed on Friday when asked.
Several media had previously reported about it. With the refusal to deliver 50 jets ordered, Airbus is also defending itself out of court against one of its most important customers. The news of the Airbus share hit the stock market, it lost more than two percent on Friday.
paint damage
In December, Qatar Airways filed a lawsuit against Airbus in the High Court in London over damage to the paintwork on its A350 wide-body jet. The aircraft manufacturer is now in turn accusing the state airline of having enforced a local landing ban for 21 A350 jets in its possession from the authorities of the Arab Emirate of Qatar in order to give emphasis to claims for damages for the alleged surface defects.
hearing in court
However, there is “no reasonable basis” for the landing ban, according to Airbus documents published on Thursday in preparation for a hearing before the court. Rather, Qatar Airways initiated or tolerated the landing ban because, given the demand impacted by the pandemic, it was in its economic interest to keep the planes on the ground, Airbus claimed.
Qatar Airways had taken some of its more than 50 A350 series machines out of service because of the reported problems with the surface coating. The acceptance of ordered jets was already suspended in June. Airbus program manager Philippe Mhun, on the other hand, had emphasized that the problems were not safety-related.
Some serious flaws
Qatar Airways said in a statement that the damage was not just superficial. “One of the defects results in exposure and damage to the aircraft’s lightning protection system, another defect results in the underlying composite structure being exposed to moisture and ultraviolet light, and other defects include cracks in the composite as well as damage around a high percentage of rivets on the fuselage,” it said on Friday.
It is unfortunate and frustrating that Airbus appears to have decided to expand and escalate the dispute. “We continue to urge Airbus to conduct a satisfactory root cause analysis of the root cause of the failure, as necessary.” Qatar Airways remains ready to help. In the meantime, the airline will vigorously defend its position in the court case.