A court document showed on Thursday that Qatar Airways is seeking $618 million in damages from plane maker Airbus in a row over surface corrosion of its A350 planes.
The company is also demanding an additional compensation of four million dollars for each day it stopped operating its 21 aircraft of this type, by order of the Qatari regulators, because of this defect, which includes corrosion and holes in the lightning protection surface.
Qatar Airways, Europe’s largest customer, made the claim in December, saying Airbus had failed to provide a comprehensive root-cause analysis and conclusive answers to its questions regarding the viability of regarding 40 percent of its A350 fleet.
Airbus said it had recognized the cause and would “deny” the company’s allegations in a circuit of the High Court in London. “Airbus confirms that there is no airworthiness issue,” an Airbus spokesperson said, adding that this was a confirmed view of European regulators.
The two companies have been at loggerheads for months over damages, including paint flaws and corrosion in a subsurface layer of lightning protection.
The row widened in November when a Archyde.com investigation revealed that at least five other airlines had discovered surface defects, prompting Airbus to set up an internal working group and explore a new lightning-proof design for future A350s.
Qatar is the only country so far that has grounded some aircraft.
(Archyde.com)
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