In a joint statement released on Wednesday afternoon, both Airbus and Qatar Airways have reached an amicable settlement to their ongoing legal actions regarding the paintwork on the Airbus A350 aircraft. On the 13th of November 2020 a Qatar Airways Airbus A350-900, A7-ALL arrived in Shannon for a repaint by International Aircraft Coatings (IAC). The aircraft was due to get a special colour scheme to promote the FIFA World Cup to be held in Qatar in 2022. The process was due to take around 10 days. However, when the original scheme was removed, several surface coating irregularities were noticed and the aircraft remained in the hangar at Shannon while engineers from Airbus inspected the aircraft. The aircraft was eventually flown to the Airbus facilities in Toulouse for further inspection on 5th January 2021. The aircraft involved remains parked in Toulouse. Some irregularities were found on other Qatar aircraft and the airline refused to take delivery of existing orders. Legal cases followed between the parties which now appear to be resolved.
A statement released by Airbus and Qatar Airways said, “Qatar Airways and Airbus are pleased to have reached an amicable and mutually agreeable settlement in relation to their legal dispute over A350 surface degradation and the grounding of A350 aircraft. A repair project is now underway and both parties look forward to getting these aircraft safely back in the air. The details of the settlement are confidential and the parties will now proceed to discontinue their legal claims. The settlement agreement is not an admission of liability for either party. This agreement will enable Qatar Airways and Airbus to move forward and work together as partners.”
Qatar Airways had 12 Airbus A350 aircraft on order when the dispute arose, many of these have been built and remained parked at the Airbus facilities in Toulouse. At the time Qatar had received 53 A350 aircraft delivered of which 27 are listed as stored.
