@@ -1,1 +1,1 @@ - +<br>By Alexander Cornwell and Tim Hepher<br> <br>DOHA, June 22 (Reuters) - Two high-tech Airbus A350 jets sit idle with their windows taped and engines covered in a floodlit hangar in the Gulf, hobbled by an international legal dispute between European industrial giant Airbus and Qatar's national carrier.<br> <br>From a distance, the planes might seem like any other long-haul jetliners crowding the busy Doha hub.<br>But a rare on-site visit by Reuters journalists showed what appeared to be evidence of damage to the [https://www.buzzfeed.com/search?q=surface surface] of wingtips, tail and hull.<br> <br>The two planes, worth around $300 million combined according to analysts, are among 23 grounded A350s at the centre of a $1 billion London court battle over whether the damage represents a potential safety risk, something Airbus strongly denies.<br> <br>The planes were grounded by Qatar's regulator after premature paint erosion exposed damage to a [https://www.flickr.com/search/?q=metallic%20sub-layer metallic sub-layer] that provides protection to the fuselage from lightning strikes.<br> <br>Other airlines continue to fly the A350 after European regulators declared the aircraft safe.<br> <br>Reuters journalists were granted rare first-hand access after requesting the visit on the sidelines of an airline industry meeting in the Qatari capital, Doha, this week.<br> <br>Sporadic surface flaws on the A350s viewed by Reuters included an elongated stretch of blistered and cracked or missing paint along the roof or crown of the jets.<br> <br>In some areas, the protective lightning mesh that sits between the hull and the paint appeared exposed and corroded.<br> <br>In other parts it appeared to be missing, leaving areas of the composite hull of the aircraft exposed to the environments.<br> <br>The paint on the tail of one of the A350s emblazoned with Qatar Airways' maroon Arabian Oryx emblem was pockmarked by cracked and missing paint that exposed the layer beneath.<br> <br>Airbus and Qatar Airways had no immediate comment on Reuters' findings.<br> <br>EROSION<br> <br>Airbus acknowledges quality flaws to the A350s, but denies they pose any safety risk because of the amount of backup systems and tolerance built into design.<br> <br>Qatar Airways has argued this can't be known until further analysis, and is refusing to take more of the planes.<br> <br>Airbus has argued that some paint erosion is a feature of the carbon-composite technology used to build all modern long-haul jets - a necessary trade-off for weight savings.<br> <br>It says the cracks are caused by the way paint, anti-lightning material called ECF and the composite structure interact.<br><br>The tail does not all contain the ECF foil, prompting a technical debate over whether the damage there is caused by the same problem.<br> <br>Amid hundreds of pages of conflicting technical court filings presented by both sides, Reuters has not been able to verify independently the cause of the damage.<br> <br>Qatar Airways' Chief Executive Akbar Al Baker and Airbus Chief Executive Guillaume Faury had the opportunity to mingle during the three-day industry gathering in Qatar this week.<br> <br>Asked whether the relationship had improved after the event, which included the two men seated next to each other over dinner, Al Baker suggested the two sides remain far apart.<br> <br>"On a personal level I am friends with everyone but when it comes to an issue with my company, then it's a different story. If things were settled, we would not be still waiting for a trial to happen next year," he told a news conference.<br> <br>Faury said this week he was in discussion with the airline and reported "progress in the sense that we are communicating".<br> <br>One of the airline industry's most senior officials voiced concerns after the Doha meeting that the dispute could have a toxic effect on contractual ties across the industry.<br> <br>"It would be much better if we were dealing with friends that than dealing in the courts," Willie Walsh, director [http://faylyn.is-programmer.com/posts/211966.html comment8211521] general of the International Air Transport Association, told reporters.<br><br>(Reporting by Alexander Cornwell and Tim Hepher Editing by Mark Potter)<br><br>adverts.addToArray({"pos":"inread_player"})Advertisement