Airbus (AIB, Toulouse Blagnac) has unilaterally terminated the remainder of Qatar Airways's A350-1000 order backlog, which as of early August 2022 stood at 19, Reuters and Wall Street Journal reported citing unnamed sources.
With the airline refusing to accept anymore A350s until fuselage paint deterioration issues have been addressed to its satisfaction, the European manufacturer has been dropping orders one by one in line with their scheduled delivery dates. Airbus terminated two orders in January 2022, a further one in May 2022, and one more in June 2022.
Qatar Airways took delivery of all thirty-four -900s between 2014 and 2019 and took nineteen -1000s between 2018 and 2020. When the dispute with Airbus erupted, the airline still had twenty-three -1000s on order.
If confirmed, the decision would be Airbus's second unilateral order termination of a Qatar Airways order. In January 2022, the manufacturer axed the Qatari's order for forty A321-200Ns and ten A321-200NX(LR)s. The London High Court later upheld Airbus' right to remarket the A321neo, even though substantive proceedings relating to the A350 case are not expected to begin before summer 2023. In response to the court's ruling, Qatar Airways recently confirmed its order for twenty-five B737-10s with options for a further 25.
