DUBAI (Reuters) – Qatar Airways is ready to see its legal dispute with Airbus over flaws with protective skin of A350 wide-body jets through to trial, the Gulf carrier said on Tuesday.
Qatar Airways is suing the European planemaker in a UK court for $1 billion in damages after grounding about two dozen of its A350s experiencing the flaws, which it says raise safety concerns – something Airbus and European regulators deny.
“Qatar Airways is ready to see this matter through to trial to ensure that its rights are protected and that Airbus is required to address an unprecedented and extremely unique and concerning defect impacting the A350 aircraft type, across the industry and multiple carriers,” the airline said in a statement setting out detailed extracts from a judge’s written ruling.
Airbus said it was surprised by what it termed a “complete mischaracterisation” of the ruling, saying it had rejected Qatar’s requests for injunctions and awarded Airbus most costs.
(Writing by Alexander Cornwell; editing by David Evans)