Qatar Airways Gets Expedited Trial Over Airbus A350 Dispute

Qatar Airways has issued a statement related to their dispute with aircraft manufacturer Airbus:

Qatar Airways is pleased with the judgement given by the High Court today. We entered into this process to secure an expedited trial and early disclosure from Airbus that will give us an insight into the true nature of surface degradation affecting the A350s. We are extremely pleased to have secured these in today’s judgement. We will finally be able assess the cause of the damage to our aircraft and the expedited trial will provide a swift resolution of this unprecedented dispute. Qatar Airways remains committed to its collective mission to achieve “Excellence in everything that we do,” at all levels across our airline. Our commitment to the safety and security of our passengers and crew, remains at the core of everything we do.

The dispute started when Qatar Airways claimed that its newly delivered Airbus A350s were inoperable as visible paint peeling and airframe damage are present in the aircraft units. Airbus, as the aircraft manufacturer, acknowledged some damage to the paint but counters that there are no problems with the airframe. The row between the two companies prompted the civil aviation authority of Qatar to ground all of the airline’s twenty-one (21) Airbus A350 aircraft.