PARIS: Airbus has taken an extraordinary step of canceling a multi-billion dollar order for 50 planes from a major customer Qatar Airways in the midst of a growing controversy over the shutdown of the A350 aircraft.
The Qatari company, one of the Bay Area's "Big Three" carriers, has grounded nearly half of its 53-plane A350 fleet due to corrosion of the outer fuselage surfaces.
The airline has taken the dispute to the High Court in London and stopped accepting further deliveries of wide-body aircraft from the European firm until the issue is resolved.
An Airbus spokesman told AFP on Friday that the aircraft maker had terminated a contract with Qatar Airways for 50 single-aisle A321neo aircraft "in accordance with our rights".
It is usually airlines that cancel orders when they no longer need them or can no longer afford them.
Orders were valued at over $6 billion at catalog prices, although airlines are typically charged less for larger purchases.
Qatar Airways said in a statement that it is complying with all its contractual obligations with Airbus.
"It is therefore with great regret and disappointment that Airbus has made the categorical decision to escalate and escalate this dispute," the airline said.
The first hearing of both the companies on the A350 dispute took place in the court on Thursday.
Qatar Airways is seeking $61.8 million in compensation, as well as $4 million for each day more A350 planes are kept inactive, a source close to the matter said.
Airbus said it canceled the A321neo order because Qatar Airways breached its contractual obligations by refusing to take delivery of the A350 aircraft.
The aerospace giant has acknowledged the existence of paint degradation, which can expose a metal mesh that protects aircraft from lightning strikes.
But Airbus says the issue poses no air safety issue.
The aerospace giant has said that the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) has confirmed its findings that the paint-related issue had "no airworthiness impact on the A350 fleet".
- 21 aircraft grounded -
The controversy began in August last year when Qatar Airways announced that its country's aviation regulator had ordered the grounding of 13 A350 aircraft due to a fuselage issue.
Now 21 airplanes are sitting on the tarmac. Airbus was supposed to deliver 23 more A350 planes to the airline, but Qatar Airways refused to accept them since last summer. Other airlines have found similar paint issues with their A350 planes, but Qatar Airways is the only one to have the planes.
"Qatar Airways' number one priority remains the safety of its passengers and crew," it said in its Friday statement.
"For this reason, all affected aircraft are at a standstill, and we are unable to accept the delivery of further aircraft tendered for delivery by Airbus."
It released a video showing widespread shedding of paint from the fuselage of several aircraft, exposing the metal mesh beneath, saying "these defects are not superficial".
Airbus said last month that it was ready to seek independent arbitration to resolve the dispute.
In an unusually stringent statement about a client, Airbus said at the time that "an attempt by this customer to misrepresent this specific topic as an airworthiness issue poses a threat to international protocol on security matters." represents".
Instead Qatar Airways took the matter to a London court.
A new hearing is scheduled for the week of April 26.
"We welcome the court's decision to expedite the issue and order a hearing in April in an effort to resolve the dispute more expeditiously."