After almost two years of back-and-forth legal claims, Airbus and Qatar Airways have come to an agreeable settlement on their legal dispute over what Airbus calls “paint degradation” and Qatar describes as fuselages “degrading at an accelerated rate” of the Airbus A350.

This marks an end to the High Court drama in London and the likely return of Qatar Airways’ grounded Airbus A350 fleet to the skies.

Airbus and Qatar Airways Settle London High Court Cases

Qatar Airways and Airbus have reached a settlement to end their legal dispute over the Airbus A350 aircraft. While the terms of the settlement are confidential, the bottom line is the parties are discontinuing their legal claims.

Qatar’s orders for Airbus A350s and Airbus A321neos that Airbus had previously canceled will now be reinstated. The companies say they look forward to moving together as partners. The repair of 22 grounded A350s in Qatar Airways’ fleet is expected to proceed, likely at a cost to Airbus.

The dispute centered around what Qatar Airways described as fuselages “degrading at an accelerated rate” on Airbus A350 aircraft. This resulted in some aircraft being grounded by Qatar’s aviation regulator, the Qatar Civil Aviation Authority (QCAA).

In January 2021, Qatar Airways sought over $600 million in damages from Airbus. Airbus responded by cancelling orders for Airbus A321neos and Airbus A350s. That turned Qatar’s order book all-Boeing with orders for 50 737 MAX and its 777X freighter.

“Qatar Airways and Airbus are pleased to have reached an amicable and mutually agreeable settlement in relation to their legal dispute over A350 surface degradation and the grounding of A350 aircraft. The details of the settlement are confidential and the parties will now proceed to discontinue their legal claims. The settlement agreement is not an admission of liability for either party.”

Joint Statement from Airbus and Qatar Airways

Al Jazeera reports that now that Airbus and Qatar Airways settled, it will result in the reinstatement of previously canceled orders, which includes 50 Airbus A321neos and 23 Airbus A350s.

Airbus to Repair Qatar Airways A350 Fleet

Despite the settlement, there’s still work to be done in getting the grounded Airbus A350 aircraft back in the sky. Qatar Airways currently has 43 Airbus A350s in its fleet, including 19 of the larger Airbus A350-1000 and 24 of the Airbus A350-900 variant. 22 aircraft are currently grounded due to the damage.

This is good news for travelers and Qatar Airways. The Airbus A350 fleet has Qatar’s award-winning Q-Suite business class suites on board. Once these aircraft are in the air, Qatar will be able to fly its full fleet across its network replacing some of its older aircraft.

See also: Delta’s Ex-LATAM A350 Fleet To Get Major Upgrade In Retrofit

Bottom line

After almost two years of back-and-forth legal claims, Airbus and Qatar Airways have reached an agreement to settle their legal dispute over the paint degradation of the Airbus A350. The settlement will result in the reinstatement of canceled orders for Airbus A350s and Airbus A321neos. Airbus will also repair the 22 grounded A350s in Qatar Airways’ fleet. The return of the full fleet is good news for Qatar Airways flyers, the Airbus A350 fleet includes Qatar’s award-winning Q-Suite business class suites.