Airbus has terminated a multi-billion-dollar contract with Qatar Airways for 50 of its
new A321neo aircraft, escalating a legal battle between the two companies over paint on the
recently delivered A350s. Since June last year, Qatar has condemned the plane maker
over paint defects that have also underpinned further problems with the aircraft’s lightning
protection mesh.
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And in today's video, we are going to discuss “Airbus Terminates A321 Order.” So without any
further ado, Let's begin.
It led to Qatar launching a legal proceeding against Airbus over it in December when it
failed to reach a solution after the planemaker was firm in defending that there were no airworthiness
flaws. Airbus defended itself against the allegations from the start. Problems with
the paint have also arisen with other airlines such as Finnair and Lufthansa.
But that has no impact on security. The aircraft
manufacturer said at the end of last year that the allegations were to be examined in
court. Qatar Airways just ignited the next stage and sued Airbus in a London court. Qatar
Airways has said its local regulator is independently driving safety decisions and cannot evaluate
the airworthiness of the affected jets without a deeper analysis from Airbus.
Qatar Airways published a video in which it
said: "clearly shows these defects are not superficial and one of the defects causes
the aircraft’s lightning protection system to be exposed and damaged, another defect
leaves the underlying composite structure exposed to moisture and ultraviolet light,
and other defects include cracking in the composite and damage around a high percentage
of rivets on the aircraft fuselage".
The airline, which says it is retrieving Airbus A380s to replace capacity lost due to the
grounding, is seeking more than $700 million in compensation for the A350’s unserviceability,
$618 million by December 17, and an additional $4.2 million for each additional day. The
final escalation followed with Airbus terminating the contract.
The European Union Aviation Safety Agency,
which is responsible for the overall design but not the locally regulated airworthiness
of individual planes in service, has said it has not so far found safety problems with
A350s that it inspected. Qatar is so far the only country to ground some of the jets.
Without a proper understanding of the root
cause of the problem, Qatar Airways cannot establish whether any proposed repair solution
will solve the underlying condition, it added, urging Airbus to “undertake a thorough investigation”
of the issue. Qatar Airways quickly made it clear that Airbus’ termination would not
simply be accepted.
The aircraft manufacturer was not only met with understanding in other respects either.
Iata general director Willie Walsh said clearly he did care about fair competition. He knows
many airlines that would like to terminate their contracts because they are not doing
well financially.
The state-owned airline relies on the long-haul A350 for the increased inflow of passengers
to Qatar for the month-long FIFA 2022 World Cup, which played in the Arab Gulf state starting
Nov. 21. Qatar Airways has a fleet of 53 Airbus A350s in both its 1000 and 900 series.
The airline has more on order with the France-based
airplane manufacturer, making its total order of 76 A350s the most of any airline worldwide.
“We confirm we did terminate the contract for 50 A321s with Qatar Airways in accordance
with our rights,” an Airbus spokesman said following a filing setting out provisional
arguments, reported earlier by Bloomberg News.
The A321 order stems from a deal first signed some 10 years ago which was then worth $4.6
billion at list prices. It was later modified to switch 10 of the A321s to a newer version.
With regard to the cancellation of the separate A321neo contract, the carrier said it was
“adhering to all of our obligations under all applicable contracts”. A statement continued:
“Qatar Airways remains prepared to help with the root cause analysis however it can.
“In the meantime, we will continue to robustly defend our position in the legal proceedings.”
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