Qatar Airways and Airbus announced that they'd settled their longstanding dispute.
In separate announcements, both Qatar Airways and Airbus said the issue of the surface degradation and the grounding of some of the carrier's A350 wide-body jets had been settled in an "amicable and mutually agreeable" deal.
A repair project is now underway, and both parties look forward to getting these aircraft safely back in the air.
"Not an admission of liability"
Qatar Airways and Airbus did not disclose further details of the settlement.
"The details of the settlement are confidential, and the parties will now proceed to discontinue their legal claims," the parties said in their statements.
"The settlement agreement is not an admission of liability for either party," Qatar Airways and Airbus said.
The settlement comes after the Doha-based carrier earlier faced off with the European planemaker over some peeling and cracking issues which it said posed a "safety issue" on some newly delivered A350s to which Qatar was the launch customer.
In the summer of 2021, Qatar's Civil Aviation Authority revoked the airworthiness certificates of some A350s, which resulted in Qatar Airways grounding 21 aircraft. They then sought more than US$2 billion in compensation from Airbus.
Airbus has consistently turned down claims of the safety risk on the aircraft due to the degradation issue and noted that the airframe surface degradation may have been due to environmental conditions.
Meanwhile, following the settlement, although pending any announcement from both parties, this could mean that Airbus could resume deliveries of A350s to Qatar Airways.
"This agreement will enable Qatar Airways and Airbus to move forward and work together as partners," Qatar Airways and Airbus said in their separate announcements.
