The London High Court has dismissed Airbus's attempt at using a 1968 French law to appoint a special commissioner to supervise the transfer of confidential documents from France to Qatar Airways (QR, Doha Hamad International) as part of ongoing A350-related legal proceedings, Reuters has reported.
The manufacturer said the regulation prohibits French companies from transferring sensitive economic data directly to courts abroad unless there is a commissioner in place. The law was implemented at the height of economic tensions between France and the US and generally serves to protect French firms from demands from foreign courts, which Paris then saw as onerous.
Airbus underlined that it was not seeking to avoid handing over the data but rather was trying to make sure that by doing so, it does not run afoul of French criminal law.
"This is hardly the example of an unwilling, vulnerable French company that has now found itself having to cope with a highly intrusive and oppressive form of discovery... That, in my judgment, is a million miles away from what this case is all about," Judge David Waksman said.
The two parties are engaged in extensive pre-trial proceedings. The trial itself is not expected to begin before summer 2023, barring an out-of-court settlement, which at this stage looks unlikely. Airbus recently cancelled a fourth A350-1000destined for Qatar Airways after the carrier missed its contractual delivery date. Qatar Airways said it would not be taking any new A350s until Airbus acknowledges and addresses fuselage paint quality issues.
While Airbus accepts the quality issues related to paint deterioration, it remains adamant that these do not impact airworthiness.
