Qatar Airways and Airbus Settle Over A350 Legal Dispute

Qatar Airways and Airbus have reached an 'amicable and mutually agreeable settlement' in relation to their legal dispute over A350 surface degradation and the grounding of A350 aircraft.

According to an official statement from Airbus, a repair project is underway and both parties look forward to getting the affected A350s safely back in the air.

Although the details of the settlement are confidential, according to Airbus, the two parties will now "proceed to discontinue their legal claims."

"The settlement agreement is not an admission of liability for either party. The agreement will enable Qatar Airways and Airbus to move forward and work together as partners.", the statement said.

It'll be recalled that Qatar Airways had in December 2021, dragged Airbus to a High Court in London over issues with the airline's fleet of Airbus A350 aircraft.

In 2021, the airline said it grounded 21 Airbus A350s due to “accelerated surface degradation” of the aircraft which the airline said was “adversely impacting” its operations.

With 53 A350s in its fleet, Qatar Airways is currently the world's second largest Airbus A350 operator. The airline was the launch customer for the A350-900 in 2014, as well as the A350-1000 in 2018.