Qatar Airways’ A350 fleet returns to the skies

State-backed Qatar Airways has put its entire fleet of A350 jetliners back into service, a year after settling a dispute with European planemaker Airbus over flaking paint, a media report said.

The A350 fleet is now completely repaired and back in air, chief commercial officer Thierry Antinori told Reuters.

“You know we had this little issue. This is solved now. Since last week they are repaired and are back in the sky.”

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Antinori said that the airline sees opportunities to add more aircraft to the fleet, given the potential between Europe and Asia, Europe and Australia, Europe and the Indian Ocean, and Africa.

In February 2023, Qatar Airways and Airbus reached an amicable and mutually agreeable settlement over the A350 surface degradation dispute, which led to the grounding of the A350 aircraft.

Airbus reinstated orders for 73 aircraft from Qatar Airways in March 2023 after revoking them during the dispute.

Last November, Qatar Airways said net profit rose 113.8 percent year on year to QAR3.7 billion in the first half of 2023/24 on increased passenger numbers and load factors.