Airbus Doesn't Have To Supply Qatar Airways With Airbus A321neos

The Image Above: Rendering of a Qatar Airways Airbus A321neo. Courtesy of Airbus. 

The High Court of the United Kingdom has ruled that Airbus does not have to supply Qatar Airways with A321neos that the airline had on order.

This comes following news earlier on that Airbus had revoked the $6bn deal for 50 units of the type.

Such a reaction came to light following Qatar Airways' separate court claim about surface erosion on the Airbus A350, according to AviationSource

In a statement, Airbus told the Guardian that it was pleased with the outcome:

"[We are pleased with the] court’s decision in recognizing Airbus’ position that a transparent and trustful cooperation is essential in our industry”.

“The litigation is about the misrepresentation of the safety and airworthiness of the A350, which we will continue to defend, as well as the reputation of its operators and the rules governing aviation safety in the face of unjustified claims.”

Qatar Airways' A350 Fleet

The Image Above: Aircraft utilization of Qatar Airways. 

On the surface erosion claims, Qatar Airways has seven A350-1000 aircraft and 20 A350-900 aircraft that are parked due to such issues emerging. 

This means that only 12 of the 19 -1000s and 14 of the 34 -900s are in operation at present, according to data from RadarBox.com.

Such a damaged relationship has resulted in Qatar Airways strengthening its ties with Boeing through the order of 777X Freighters and 737 MAX aircraft. 

With the airline owning mainly long-haul aircraft, it is the A350 side of things that matters more for the airline. 

Overall

The next steps are to see what happens in the next ruling regarding the surface erosion claims. 

Qatar Airways is suing Airbus for over $600 million and is adding more money to the tally for each day that the dispute isn't resolved. 

It will be interesting to see what comes out of this, but either way, the damage between Airbus & Qatar Airways will be damaged significantly in the short to medium-term.