Qatar Airways and the European Airbus Group for the aircraft industry announced today, Wednesday, that they have reached an amicable agreement that satisfies the two parties and ends the legal dispute between them regarding damage to the outer surface of the body of a number of “A350” (A350) aircraft that caused their suspension, to avoid this. The two sides trial in Britain.
The friendly settlement ends a dispute regarding the safety of the first European plane for long-distance destinations, in which the value of compensation amounted to two billion dollars.
The two companies said that the settlement agreement does not hold both parties responsible, and will enable them to move forward and work together as partners, as they will drop the judicial claims between them.
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- Qatar Airways (@qatarairwaysar) February 1, 2023
The two companies are looking forward to restarting the A350 aircraft safely after starting repair procedures within a special program, as the European company said it is discussing with regulatory authorities in Europe, Qatar and Qatar Airways the best ways to return these aircraft to service after they stop flying.
Airbus added that Qatar Airways will also receive the first batch of A321 new aircraft after activating the contract in 2026.
The unprecedented row led Airbus to cancel dozens of other aircraft orders from Qatar ahead of a trial scheduled for June.
The Qatari company had filed a lawsuit against Airbus - the largest aircraft manufacturer in the world - regarding the safety of the Airbus "A350" aircraft due to damages represented in peeling paint and the presence of gaps in the bottom layer of the lightning protection system in this model, which prompted the regulators in Qatar to It issued orders to ground 29 aircraft, saying that navigational safety could be compromised by a design flaw, which Airbus denied.