Qatar Airways announced Thursday that it had received the order from the regulator of this Gulf State to keep 13 of its Airbus A350s on the ground due to the rapid deterioration of the surfaces of the fuselages.
The company, one of the three major airlines in the Gulf, had previously agreed to no longer take delivery of the aircraft for the same reason, according to press reports dated June.
Read also: Why Gulf Airlines Are Suffering From A Takeoff Delay
Qatar Airways specifies in a press release that it was obliged to speed up the return to service of the Airbus A330 to compensate for the stoppage of the 13 A350s. Its fleet comprises 34 A350-900s and 19 A350-1000s, according to an Airbus document. Qatar Airways "
works with the regulator to ensure the maintenance of the safety of all passengers ... and following an explicit written instruction from the regulator (of the company), 13 planes were kept on the ground
", specifies the communicated.
Qatar Airways is governed by the Qatar Civil Aviation Authority.
The chief executive of the company, Akbar al-Baker, has indicated that he expects "A
irbus to treat this subject with the specific attention it requires
".
“
Qatar Airways will not accept anything other than an aircraft that continues to offer its customers the highest possible safety standards and the best quality of travel they deserve,
” he said in the statement.
Airbus must establish the cause of the problem
The company expects that "
Airbus has established the root cause and permanently corrected the underlying conditions to the satisfaction of Qatar Airways and our regulator before we take delivery of any other A350 aircraft
", adds the text.
The statement said the company "is
cooperating with all leasing companies affected by the grounding of the A350s, which have started to inspect their impacted planes
", without giving further details on the parties concerned.
“
We do not comment on the operations of our clients.
As a major aircraft manufacturer, we are always in discussion with our customers.
These discussions remain confidential,
”said Airbus in a statement.
During the coronavirus pandemic, Qatar Airways had positioned itself as a leading company in the repatriation of stranded travelers, drawing praise from the UK, France and other countries whose airlines were crippled. More than half of its fleet is made up of medium-sized aircraft, Boeing 787s and Airbus A350s.
