Safety concerns have prompted Qatar Airways to ground 13 of its Airbus A350 fleet pending an investigation by the airline and its regulator.
According to a statement, the airline is closely monitoring the condition across its Airbus A350 fleet in which the fuselage surface below the paint is degrading at an accelerated rate.
The 13 aircraft have been removed from service until such time as the root cause can be established, and a satisfactory solution made available to permanently correct the underlying condition.
The airline has already taken action to return its A330 fleet to service with immediate effect to offset some impact of the grounded A350 aircraft, and is presently looking at other solutions too.
“We expect Airbus to have established the root cause and permanently corrected the underlying condition to the satisfaction of Qatar Airways and our regulator before we take delivery of any further A350 aircraft,” said Qatar Airways Group chief executive, Akbar Al Baker.
