Airbus is preparing to go head-to-head with one of its largest customers in a legal battle that includes claims for hundreds of millions of dollars in damages and an allegation that one of its best-selling aircraft is defective.
The case centres on claims by Qatar Airways that the paint on its fleet of Airbus A350 long-haul aircraft is flaking, resulting in the grounding of 21 planes.
The European plane maker will state next week in its defence filing that the claims are groundless, and an attempt by the airline to gain compensation because of the impact of the pandemic on its operations, according to written arguments it presented in the High Court in London last month.
Qatar, which operates 34 A350-900s and 19 A350-1000s, first complained in late 2020 after one of its aircraft was sent to Ireland to be painted in a livery for this November’s football World Cup in the Gulf state. Some abnormalities were found under the original paint when it was stripped off ahead of the application of the new colour scheme.
Airbus, according to court documents filed by Qatar, recommended “approximately 900 patch repairs” to the damage. Things escalated throughout last year, with the Gulf carrier in May first threatening to refuse delivery of further jets. The airline subsequently grounded 13 of the aircraft on the orders of its regulator in August and said it would refuse to receive any more of the jets until the situation was resolved.
In December, Qatar filed a claim in London’s High Court. The Gulf carrier has now grounded 21 of its jets on the orders of its aviation regulator. It also has another 23 on order but has halted further deliveries.
The high-stakes battle is being watched closely by the industry. Aircraft makers will usually move heaven and earth to avoid a court battle with a big airline — they would generally only see a customer in court if it had gone bankrupt and there was a need to secure ownership of expensive planes, according to industry…