In yet another round of escalation, the European multinational aerospace giant, Airbus has fully revoked its pending order from Qatar Airways for A350 aircraft adding further pressure on the gulf carrier ahead of the busy FIFA World Cup 2022 season, according to Reuters.
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Legal dispute
The two parties have been caught up in a prolonged legal dispute over surface damage across the airline’s A350 fleet, prompting the grounding of more than 20 aircraft and adding immense pressure on the Qatari flag carrier to meet the rising market demand.
The airline has dragged the conflict to the court of law, demanding over $1.4 billion in compensation from Airbus, and refusing to take delivery of more A350 aircraft until the aircraft manufacturer provides an apt explanation of the problem and its root cause.
Anticipated demand
The cancelled order is estimated to include 19 aircraft valued at $7 billion at catalogue prices and is expected to further widen the gap between the two industry giants.
On its part, the gulf airline was forced to lease aircraft and reluctantly bring its A380 fleet back to service to meet the anticipated demand over the FIFA World Cup proceedings in November, especially after Airbus revoked an entire contract for 50 A321neo aircraft in retaliation for Qatar’s refusal of taking more A350 deliveries.
Record profits
Despite the rambling dispute, the airline posted the highest annual profits in its history, in mid-June, at $1.54 billion (QAR5.6 billion), marking a 200% upsurge above Qatar’s highest annual profit, with a 78% increase in consolidated revenue compared to 2021 and 2% above pre-COVID-19 results to $14.4 billion (QAR52.3 billion).
