Qatar Airways said it did not undertake to accept delivery of the A350s from European plane maker Airbus until the issue of the aircraft's exterior paint was resolved.
Qatar Airways accused the European carrier of lowering its standards in order to reduce the problem with the plane.
And the Bloomberg news agency quoted Philip Shepherd, a lawyer representing the Qatar company, as saying before a London court in a hearing yesterday, Thursday, that Airbus has not yet provided the analysis required to find out the cause of the problem with the paint of the plane’s fuselage, “because we suspect that they (in Airbus) do not want what this analysis means. For this plane," I love what the German news agency reported.
The two sides have been at loggerheads for months over surface defects in the A350s, some of which have already been grounded by Qatar over safety concerns, and its airline, Airbus, is suing for $600 million in compensation.
In early August, Qatar Airways announced the grounding of 13 of its Airbus A350 aircraft, due to the rapid deterioration of the fuselage surfaces.
The European company acknowledges there are quality problems, but claims that Qatar Airways has misclassified it as a safety issue for compensation.
Airbus had sued a British court for more than $220 million as part of an ongoing legal dispute with Qatar Airways.
The court was also considering a lawsuit brought by Qatar Airways to prevent the cancellation of the contract between the two companies, Bloomberg News Agency reported.