Qatar Airways has completed repairs to its Airbus A350 jets that had paint cracks on the surface of the fuselage and parts of the wings, the airline told Reuters.
As a result, all 58 widebodies in the fleet are in flying condition. Only two aircraft were parked for routine maintenance, according to Planespotters.
The flight status comes more than a year after Qatar and Airbus ended a dispute in a UK court in which the carrier asked for billion-dollar compensation for the problems presented by the aircraft.
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After retaliation between them, the two companies reached an amicable agreement and have since renewed their plans to expand the A350 fleet.
A350 grounded
Qatar is one of the largest operators of the model, which makes extensive use of composite materials to make its structure lighter.
However, exposure to high temperatures and sand in the desert regions where it flies may have affected the paint layers of some jets.
Qatar considered the problem a safety risk and therefore grounded around two dozen A350s, but Airbus denied that the cracks in the paintwork exposed the aircraft to any risk.
Qatar’s fleet consists of 34 A350-900s and 24 A350-1000s. The Doha-based carrier still has another 18 A350-1000 pending delivery.
