Paris — European aerospace giant Airbus and its major customer Qatar Airways have reached an amicable settlement regarding a legal dispute over A350 surface degradation and the grounding of A350 aircraft, the two parties said on Wednesday.
"A repair project is now underway and both parties look forward to getting these aircraft safely back in the air," Airbus and Qatar Airways said in a joint statement. "The details of the settlement are confidential and the parties will now proceed to discontinue their legal claims," the companies said.
They went on to say that the settlement is not an admission of liability for either party and that it "will enable Qatar Airways and Airbus to move forward and work together as partners."
In December 2021, Airbus was taken to court by Qatar Airways, one of its most important customers, following a series of alleged problems with the Airbus A350 aircraft.
Qatar Airways claimed technical problems had forced it to ground a number of its A350 twinjets.
At the time Airbus said the problems reported by Qatar Airways posed no threat to safety and offered to allow an independent review of the case. The company later accused Qatar Airways of ordering the grounding of its A350 jets to claim compensation over alleged surface defects.
The A350 has a metallic material between its fuselage and its exterior layer of paint designed to protect against lightning. Depending on the operating conditions, tears can occur in the paint or the layer of material, according to past Airbus statements on the issue.
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