Qatar Airways asks judge for A321neo order reinstatement or compensation

Qatar Airways has asked a UK judge to either reinstate the order for 50 A321neos that have been canceled by Airbus or receive compensation from the company.

This is the latest news in the ongoing legal dispute between plane-maker Airbus and Qatar airways. It all started last year when the airline sent an A350 to Shanon, it was to be repainted into a special livery for the 2022 Qatar FIFA World Cup. During this process it was discovered that there were cracks underneath the aircaft’s paint on the top of the aircraft’s fuselage, the airline grounded 13 A350’s that were found to have the same issue. 

Qatar went on to sue Airbus for $600 million USD in compensation for the issue, this broke a clause in an agreement between the two parties and in early February Airbus canceled the airline’s order for 50 A321neo aircraft. They desperately need this aircraft to accommodate the rise in passenger traffic with the 2022 FIFA world cup being hosted by Qatar. The airline went on to place a provisional order for the Boeing 737 MAX 10, the A321neo’s main competitor.

With the trial set to take place in late April, Qatar asked the court to stop Airbus from trying to give the highly sought after delivery slots to other airlines, the aircraft currently has a backlog of orders until 2028, they were successful in this.