Qatar Airways publishes video footage of scars on Airbus planes' roofs as row with the company escalates

 Qatar Airways took a dispute with European airline Airbus to social media when it posted footage of scars on the roofs of its grounded A350 planes.  The company says these scars raise serious and legitimate safety concerns.

And in an unprecedented decision in the aviation industries, the European Airbus Group canceled an order for Qatar Airways, including 50 A321neo planes, in an escalation between the European Aerospace Group and one of its biggest customers who criticize it for defects in the A350 planes.

 This decision falls within the framework of the dispute between the aircraft manufacturer and the airline, which has suspended some of its A350 aircraft due to the deterioration of the outer surfaces of the hulls of these aircraft, and has initiated legal proceedings against Airbus before the British court.

 The response of the European group was strong.  An Airbus spokesman confirmed information published by the financial news agency Bloomberg, saying, "We confirm that we have terminated a contract that includes fifty A321 aircraft with Qatar Airways, according to our right."  In general, orders are usually canceled by client companies when they no longer have the means to finance the purchase or they no longer need the aircraft.

 Based on the bid price that Airbus last published in 2018, which was not implemented due to rebates, the value of this order amounted to more than six billion dollars.

The dispute between the aircraft manufacturer and the airline dates back to last summer.  At the beginning of August, Qatar Airways announced that it had received an order from the country's regulator to ground 13 of its Airbus A350 aircraft due to the rapid deterioration of the fuselage surfaces.

 Currently, 21 of these long-haul aircraft have been frozen, according to the airline, which has 53 A350s in its fleet.  It was supposed to receive 23 other planes, but it refused to receive more of them since last summer.

 Airbus, which acknowledges that the paint has deteriorated, which could jeopardize the integrated metal grille intended to protect the aircraft from lightning strikes, asserts that this has no safety consequences in flight.  The European Aviation Safety Agency confirmed that these defects do not involve any navigational risks.

 This defect has been detected in some aircraft operated by other companies, but Qatar Airways is the only one that prevents it from flying, which leads to a huge loss in the profits of the company specializing in long-haul flights.

 The European group of aircraft manufacturers saw this as a "threat to international safety protocols" for aviation and said it was ready in December to resort to independent arbitration.

 Airbus, which intends to "defend its position and reputation", confirmed that it was a matter of "resolving the dispute that the two parties were unable to resolve during direct and open discussions," as stated in a statement characterized by an unusually sharp tone targeting one of the group's most important customers and the second largest airline in the East.  Middle East after Emirates Airlines.