Qatar Airways has had an order for 50 Airbus A321neo aircraft cancelled by Airbus in a widening dispute over A350 paint defects.
Airbus has accused Qatar Airways of carrying out a local grounding of A350 aircraft affected by the paint defect in an attempt to claim compensation, effectively of conspiring with the Qatari regulator.
Airbus says there is no safety issue caused by the paint defect and as such the Qatari regulator has no basis for grounding the aircraft..
The European airframer confirmed it had cancelled the order saying “We confirm we did terminate the contract for 50 A321’s with Qatar Airways in accordance with our rights”
Qatar Airways have launched legal action against Airbus in the UK courts over the A350 issue.