Airbus cancels Qatar Airways order in escalating dispute

PARIS, France: European aircraft manufacturer Airbus has canceled a multi-billion dollar order by Qatar Airways for 50 of its single-aisle A321neo jets.

Airbus and Qatar Airways, one of its largest customers, have been involved in a legal dispute over the airline grounding the large A350 plane.

Qatar Airways announced in December that it was suing Airbus over what it described as the "accelerated surface degradation" of the wide-body A350.

Qatar Airways has said they would not accept any additional A350s until the problem is resolved.

Qatar Airways officials said they would use the long-haul A350 to transport the large number of passengers heading to Qatar for the month-long FIFA 2022 World Cup, which will be played in Qatar beginning November 21.

Qatar Airways has a fleet of 53 Airbus A350s aircraft. The airline had ordered 76 A350s, the most of any airline worldwide.

In a comment to the Associated Press, Airbus said it has terminated a contract for 50 A321s ordered by Qatar Airways.

In a statement last year, Qatar Airways said it had to seek assistance from the courts to order Airbus to undertake a thorough investigation of the degradation beneath the paint on the fuselage of the aircraft.

Meanwhile, Airbus noted that no other airline flying the A350 has grounded the aircraft due to safety concerns.