What is behind the legal dispute between Qatar Airways and Airbus? | Explains News
Qatar Airways is seeking $ 618 million in compensation plus $ 4 million the day after landing 21 A350s for safety reasons.
Qatar Airways has been locked for months in a legal dispute with Europe’s Airbus manufacturer over “serious and legitimate safety issues” following the delivery of A350 jets.
Qatar’s state-owned airline is seeking compensation, saying the defective planes forced it to reverse 21 of its fleet of 53 Airbus A350s in both the 1000 and 900 series.
Here are some important facts:
How did the fight start?
Qatar̵[ads1]7;s national airline raised concerns about the condition of the A350s in November 2020, when an attempt to paint a five-year-old jet in World Cup live revealed around 980 defects.
According to a survey by the news agency Reuters, at least five other airlines, including Finnair, Cathay Pacific, Etihad, Lufthansa and Air France, raised concerns in 2016 – well before Qatar Airways – but they did not put the planes on the ground.
France-based Airbus acknowledged that the faults needed attention while insisting that they were cosmetic issues and did not endanger safety.
Qatar Airways said that Airbus failed to provide a complete root cause analysis necessary to satisfy unresolved issues regarding the airworthiness of the affected jets, including the lightning protection system.
On December 20 last year, Qatar Airways sued Airbus in the United Kingdom. The case will be heard at the end of April.
What are the problems?
The airline’s complaint states that the paint on the recently delivered Airbus A350s cracked and flaked, revealing copper mesh that was used to insulate the aircraft from lightning.
On Friday, it published a video on social media of the scarred exterior of grounded A350 aircraft.
The clip showed areas of peeling or lack of paint, cracks and damage to lightning protection, as well as what the airline described as stains of carbon fiber that were exposed to moisture and potentially harmful ultraviolet light.
The lightweight carbon fiber jet liner relies on metallic foil built into the paint to help the lightning wash safely over the fuselage, which is less conductive than previous metal.
The video showed flakes of the copper mesh anti-lightning system, which are to be attached to the plane with resin, which come loose when the paint was teased away by a gloved hand.
An undated image shows what appears to be paint like flakes, cracks and exposed expanded copper foil on the fuselage of a Qatar Airways A350 aircraft [Image obtained by Reuters]What does the airline require?
Qatar Airways is pushing for $ 618 million in compensation plus $ 4 million a day and has stopped receiving 23 more A350s.
Its legal case described how the Qatar Civil Aviation Authority (QCAA) had begun withdrawing flight permits for individual A350 aircraft in a series of letters from June 2021.
It said the QCAA told Airbus that the deterioration of the aircraft was “disturbing, if not alarming”.
Airbus has said it will combat the allegation, saying there is “no reasonable or rational basis” for the groundings, which have not occurred elsewhere.
What is Airbus’ position?
Airbus says it is looking at changing the design of the anti-lightning network for future A350s, but insists that there is adequate spare lightning protection. It says Qatar Airways is undermining global protocols by seeking influence over security.
Airbus says that they have provided relevant information and concluded that there is no airworthiness risk, a view that is reflected by Europe’s air regulator.
On Friday, Airbus canceled a $ 6 billion contract with Qatar Airways for 50 of its new A321neo passenger planes, which escalated the legal battle.
A Qatar Airways Airbus A350 aircraft at Berlin Airport [File: Odd Andersen/AFP]