Airbus and Qatar Airways return to court on Friday as a contractual and safety dispute over A350 passenger jets descends into a tug-of-war over confidential documents, while the sums at stake in their unprecedented dispute top $1.5 billion.
Qatar Airways is suing Airbus over damage to the painted surface and anti-lightning system on A350 jets, saying safety could be at risk from a design defect. Airbus acknowledges quality flaws but denies the design is at fault and insists the jets are safe.
The two sides must provide each other with thousands of pages of documents as their row — which has already altered the shape of competition in the jet market — heads towards a rare London aerospace trial in mid-2023, barring a settlement.
The case has shed a rare public spotlight on the inner workings of the global jet market, including contractual details and the industrial playbook for preparing delivery of new jets.
Friday's High Court hearing is expected to hear mutual claims of foot-dragging over the release of documents including maintenance files and engineering analysis, as well as the return of millions of dollars of deposits and Airbus credits.
The number of A350s grounded by Qatar because of surface damage has risen to 28 out of 53 in its fleet.
Airbus said last month it had revoked all 19 remaining A350 orders from Qatar Airways, severing outstanding business with the Gulf carrier for new jets.
Boeing is meanwhile being dragged into the public dispute between its arch rival and one of its own biggest clients for the first time, sources say.
The dispute over the A350 widened earlier this year when Airbus revoked a separate contract for 50 smaller A321neo jets, arguing the contracts were linked by a cross-default clause.
Qatar subsequently ordered the Boeing 737 MAX and this catapulted arguments over the relative merits of the jets into court, with Airbus saying the MAX was as good as the A321 in a bid to avoid being forced to build the jets for Qatar.
Now the airline has been ordered to hand over a preliminary version of the MAX contract to Airbus with restrictions, but Boeing objects to elements of the rare disclosure, sources said.
Boeing has declined to comment.
The case's UK judge has called for a clear-the-air meeting between Airbus, the airline and Qatari and European regulators, but there are no signs so far of this happening.
Under aviation rules companies usually talk to their own regulators who then discuss safety with each other, but the case has highlighted a breakdown in the usual system of goodwill.
Airbus and Qatar Airways both declined to comment before Friday's hearing.
The Kites
Romain Gary
Penguin Modern Classics
Ain Dubai in numbers
126: The length in metres of the legs supporting the structure
1 football pitch: The length of each permanent spoke is longer than a professional soccer pitch
16 A380 Airbuses: The equivalent weight of the wheel rim.
9,000 tonnes: The amount of steel used to construct the project.
5 tonnes: The weight of each permanent spoke that is holding the wheel rim in place
192: The amount of cable wires used to create the wheel. They measure a distance of 2,4000km in total, the equivalent of the distance between Dubai and Cairo.
Sholto Byrnes on Myanmar politics
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre flat-six
Torque: 450Nm at 6,100rpm
Transmission: 7-speed PDK auto or 6-speed manual
Fuel economy, combined: 13.8L/100km
On sale: Available to order now
Factfile on Garbine Muguruza:
Name: Garbine Muguruza (ESP)
World ranking: 15 (will rise to 5 on Monday)
Date of birth: October 8, 1993
Place of birth: Caracas, Venezuela
Place of residence: Geneva, Switzerland
Height: 6ft (1.82m)
Career singles titles: 4
Grand Slam titles: 2 (French Open 2016, Wimbledon 2017)
Career prize money: $13,928,719
HOW TO WATCH
Facebook: TheNationalNews
Twitter: @thenationalnews
Instagram: @thenationalnews.com
TikTok: @thenationalnews
more from Janine di Giovanni
Scores
Wales 74-24 Tonga
England 35-15 Japan
Italy 7-26 Australia
MATCH INFO
Manchester City 4 (Gundogan 8' (P), Bernardo Silva 19', Jesus 72', 75')
Fulham 0
Red cards: Tim Ream (Fulham)
Man of the Match: Gabriel Jesus (Manchester City)
HAEMOGLOBIN DISORDERS EXPLAINED
Thalassaemia is part of a family of genetic conditions affecting the blood known as haemoglobin disorders.
Haemoglobin is a substance in the red blood cells that carries oxygen and a lack of it triggers anemia, leaving patients very weak, short of breath and pale.
The most severe type of the condition is typically inherited when both parents are carriers. Those patients often require regular blood transfusions - about 450 of the UAE's 2,000 thalassaemia patients - though frequent transfusions can lead to too much iron in the body and heart and liver problems.
The condition mainly affects people of Mediterranean, South Asian, South-East Asian and Middle Eastern origin. Saudi Arabia recorded 45,892 cases of carriers between 2004 and 2014.
A World Health Organisation study estimated that globally there are at least 950,000 'new carrier couples' every year and annually there are 1.33 million at-risk pregnancies.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
Getting there
The flights
Flydubai operates up to seven flights a week to Helsinki. Return fares to Helsinki from Dubai start from Dh1,545 in Economy and Dh7,560 in Business Class.
The stay
Golden Crown Igloos in Levi offer stays from Dh1,215 per person per night for a superior igloo; www.leviniglut.net
Panorama Hotel in Levi is conveniently located at the top of Levi fell, a short walk from the gondola. Stays start from Dh292 per night based on two people sharing; www. golevi.fi/en/accommodation/hotel-levi-panorama
Arctic Treehouse Hotel in Rovaniemi offers stays from Dh1,379 per night based on two people sharing; www.arctictreehousehotel.com
Abu%20Dhabi%E2%80%99s%20Racecard
%3Cp%3E%0D5pm%3A%20Al%20Bithnah%20%E2%80%93%20Maiden%20(PA)%20Dh80%2C000%20(Turf)%201%2C200m%0D%3Cbr%3E5.30pm%3A%20Al%20Khari%20%E2%80%93%20Hanidcap%20(PA)%20Dh80%2C000%20(T)%201%2C200m%0D%3Cbr%3E6pm%3A%20Al%20Qor%20%E2%80%93%20Handicap%20(PA)%20Dh80%2C000%20(T)%201%2C600m%0D%3Cbr%3E6.30pm%3A%20Wathba%20Stallions%20Cup%20%E2%80%93%20Handicap%20(PA)%20Dh70%2C000%20(T)%201%2C600m%0D%3Cbr%3E7pm%3A%20Al%20Badiyah%20%E2%80%93%20Handicap%20(PA)%20Dh80%2C000%20(T)%202%2C200m%0D%3Cbr%3E7.30pm%3A%20Al%20Hayl%20%E2%80%93%20Handicap%20(TB)%20Dh80%2C000%20(T)%202%2C200m%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
PSL FINAL
Multan Sultans v Peshawar Zalmi
8pm, Thursday
Zayed Cricket Stadium, Abu Dhabi
French business
France has organised a delegation of leading businesses to travel to Syria. The group was led by French shipping giant CMA CGM, which struck a 30-year contract in May with the Syrian government to develop and run Latakia port. Also present were water and waste management company Suez, defence multinational Thales, and Ellipse Group, which is currently looking into rehabilitating Syrian hospitals.
The story of Edge
Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, established Edge in 2019.
It brought together 25 state-owned and independent companies specialising in weapons systems, cyber protection and electronic warfare.
Edge has an annual revenue of $5 billion and employs more than 12,000 people.
Some of the companies include Nimr, a maker of armoured vehicles, Caracal, which manufactures guns and ammunitions company, Lahab
War 2
Director: Ayan Mukerji
Stars: Hrithik Roshan, NTR, Kiara Advani, Ashutosh Rana
Rating: 2/5
Generation Start-up: Awok company profile
Started: 2013
Founder: Ulugbek Yuldashev
Sector: e-commerce
Size: 600 plus
Stage: still in talks with VCs
Principal Investors: self-financed by founder
