On February 7, a Qatar Airways Airbus A350-900 conducted flight QR3255 from Shannon to Doha. While the flight was obviously visible by many flight tracking websites, its significance ‘flew under the radar.’ Indeed, the return of this airframe to Doha (and its subsequent return to service) could be said to mark the very end of the long and dramatic surface degradation dispute between the airline and Airbus.
Overlooked by most people, the return to service of the Airbus A350-900 registered A7-ALF saw the final grounded A350 fly passengers once again, after being inactive for approximately two-and-a-half years. The aircraft was one of several dozen airframes that were grounded by Qatar’s civil aviation authority amid a long and drawn-out dispute over safety concerns brought about by significant surface degradation.
Planespotters.net notes that A7-ALF was marked as ‘stored’ from June 2021 to December 2023. Coming out of storage, the aircraft was flown to Shannon, on December 22, 2023. As highlighted by Aviation Flights, the aircraft was sent to Ireland for ‘paint rework.’ Approximately six weeks later, on February 7, the A350 was sent home.
Photo: Flightradar24
As per Flightradar24 data, the jet departed Shannon at 18:41 and arrived at Doha Hamad Airport at 04:16 the next day. After what appears to be a 90-minute test flight on February 15 circling over the waters off Doha’s coast, the jet was returned to service on February 16 with a service to Jeddah – flight QR1190.
The long dispute between Airbus and Qatar Airways began in November 2020 with the airframe A7-ALL. The jet was reported to have displayed cracks in the composite fuselage after it had been stripped for repaint. At the time, Airbus described these as “irregularities on the surface coating. The issue is superficial/cosmetic and only visible when the top coat of paint is stripped.”
To make a long story short, the dispute between Airbus and Qatar Airways was settled at the beginning of 2023. Aircraft that were grounded and needed paint rework would then be sent to Shannon throughout the year. For those unaware of the timeline of events, the full story can be found on Simple Flying below.
What started with one plane has spiraled into a full-blown conflict between Airbus and Qatar Airways
When we produced an update on the status of grounded and reactivated Qatar Airways A350s in June 2023, it looked like a dozen or so jets remained parked. By that point, several airframes had been returned to service, with a handful more in the process of being repainted.
Now, as per Planespotters.net data, there are just two A350s currently marked as ‘parked:’ The A350-1000 registered A7-ANA, and the -900 registered A7-AMK. Both jets have been operating regular commercial services in the past few months. It’s worth noting that, while A7-AMK was never grounded for an extended period of time, it has been in Shannon since February 8. This may indicate routine repainting or the application of a special livery.
At the end of the day, with the return of A7-ALF, Qatar Airways should be thrilled to have all of its ‘surface degraded’ A350s finally repainted and flying revenue services once again.
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