In the month of January , a situation with one of the Qatar Airways aircraft ( A7-ALL) at Shannon triggered a form of Alarm regarding the probable deterioration of Carbon Fiber Reinforced Plastic (CFRP) skin of A350 Aircraft Fuselage underneath the Paint layer.
However , the matter died subsequently in front of Media , as Airbus termed it as Superficial damage to the Carbon composite skin and the Aircraft was flown to toulouse for Further Repair work.
Now, On Thursday, a similar matter Resurfaced, when Qatar Airways was forced to ground some of it's Airbus A350 aircrafts, ordered by the state Regulator Qatar Civil Aviation Authority (QCAA) considering seriousness of the matter and Aircraft safety.
Qatar Airways said on Thursday that it had been ordered by regulators in the Gulf state to ground 13 of its Airbus A350 aircraft over the rapid degradation of fuselage surfaces, further escalating a monthslong dispute with the European planemaker over the issue.
At present , Qatar Airways has 34 A350-900 types and 19 A350-1000s in its fleet.
Qatar Airways said in a statement that it had been forced to press out-of-service Airbus A330 aircraft back into operation to fill the gap left by the grounding of the 13 aircraft.
While Airbus declined to specifically discuss the announcement, Qatar Airways’ decision to ground the aircraft raised questions about the A350’s carbon composite fuselage, thtat was designed to make the twin-aisle aircraft lighter and cheaper to operate by burning less jet fuel.
“The airline is working with its regulator to ensure the continued safety of all passengers… and following the explicit written instruction of (the airline’s) regulator, 13 aircraft have now been grounded,” the airline said.
In its statement, Qatar Airways said it had been monitoring the degradation beneath the paint on the fuselage of the aircraft for some time. It described the issue as a “significant condition”, without elaborating.
“Following the explicit written instruction of its regulator, 13 aircraft have now been grounded, effectively removing them 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 said in its statement.
What Happened in the Month of January 2021 ?
In the month of January this year, Shockingly, a Qatar airways Airbus A350 Carbon Composite (CFRP) Fuselage was found with cracks on Paint stripping for World Cup 2022 Re-Livery.
Airbus A350 aircraft , registered as A7-ALL was all set for a Re-Livery of upcoming World Cup 2022 theme at Shannon.
On paint stripping, this 4.3 years old aircraft Composite fuselage made up of Carbon firbers (CFRP) was found with crack issues.
A7-ALL was subsequently flown as a ferry flight to TLS for Airbus team inspections and repair .
This aircraft was second of Qatar's World Cup scheme aircraft flown to Shannon for the Paint job.
Qatar Airways has a fleet of 53 Airbus A350s out of which 34 are A350-900 types and 19 are A350-1000 series. The remaining of Qatar Airways order with Airbus, that would take the total to 76 aircrafts are yet to be delivered. Last Month, Qatar Airways said it wouldn’t take any more A350s unless the ongoing problem was fixed.
Airbus declined to specifically discuss Qatar Airways’ grounding,
“As a leading aircraft manufacturer we are always in talks / working with our customers,” a statement said. “Those talks we keep confidential. We have no further comment on our customer’s operations.”
Qatar Airways expects Airbus to have established the root cause and permanently corrected the underlying condition to the satisfaction of the regulator before we take delivery of any further A350 aircraft.
The statement said the airline was “cooperating with all the leasing companies affected by this A350 grounding who have started to inspect their impacted aircraft”, without giving details of other affected parties.
