At issue: the Qatari company grounded part of its fleet of A350 jumbo jets due to damage to the surface of the fuselages, and is suing Airbus for compensation.
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It is a spectacular decision in the aeronautical industry. Airbus canceled a multi-billion dollar order from Qatar Airways on Friday, January 21, the height of an escalation between the European aircraft manufacturer and one of its biggest customers who blames it for defects on its A350s.
“We confirm that we have terminated the contract for 50 A321s with Qatar Airways, in accordance with our law”, said an Airbus spokesperson, confirming information from Bloomberg.
Generally, order cancellations are made by customer companies when they no longer have the means to finance the purchase or no longer need the aircraft. At the list price, last published by Airbus in 2018 and almost never applied due to discounts, the value of this order amounted to more than 6 billion dollars.
The Qatari company has grounded part of its fleet of A350 jumbo jets due to damage to the surface of the fuselages and is suing Airbus for compensation. Airbus recognizes a degradation of the paint but ensures that this situation has no consequences on flight safety. The European Aviation Safety Agency, EASA, confirmed that these degradations did not entail any airworthiness risks.