Summary
- Quietly returning to service, A7-ALF marked the top of an extended dispute between Qatar Airways and Airbus.
- After roughly two-and-a-half years of inactivity, the A350 flew passengers again on February 7.
- With the grounded A350s now back in service, Qatar Airways can finally move past the surface degradation saga.
On February 7, a Qatar Airways Airbus A350-900 conducted flight QR3255 from Shannon to Doha. While the flight was obviously visible by many flight tracking web sites, its significance ‘flew under the radar.’ Indeed, the return of this airframe to Doha (and its subsequent return to service) may very well be said to mark the very end of the long and dramatic surface degradation dispute between the airline and Airbus.
A quiet return to service
Neglected by most individuals, the return to service of the Airbus A350-900 registered A7-ALF saw the ultimate grounded A350 fly passengers once more, after being inactive for roughly two-and-a-half years. The aircraft was one in every of several dozen airframes that were grounded by Qatar’s civil aviation authority amid an extended and drawn-out dispute over safety concerns led to by significant surface degradation.
Planespotters.net notes that A7-ALF was marked as ‘stored’ from June 2021 to December 2023. Coming out of storage, the aircraft was flown to Shannon, on December 22, 2023. As highlighted by Aviation Flights, the aircraft was sent to Ireland for ‘paint rework.’ Roughly six weeks later, on February 7, the A350 was sent home.
Photo: Flightradar24
As per Flightradar24 data, the jet departed Shannon at 18:41 and arrived at Doha Hamad Airport at 04:16 the subsequent day. After what appears to be a 90-minute test flight on February 15 circling over the waters off Doha’s coast, the jet was returned to service on February 16 with a service to Jeddah – flight QR1190.
A full end to an extended saga
The long dispute between Airbus and Qatar Airways began in November 2020 with the airframe A7-ALL. The jet was reported to have displayed cracks within the composite fuselage after it had been stripped for repaint. On the time, Airbus described these as
To make an extended story short, the dispute between Airbus and Qatar Airways was settled originally of 2023. Aircraft that were grounded and needed paint rework would then be sent to Shannon all year long. For those unaware of the timeline of events, the total story will be found on Easy Flying below.
The Qatar Airbus A350 Paint Conflict: A Timeline Of Events
What began with one plane has spiraled right into a full-blown conflict between Airbus and Qatar Airways
Once we produced an update on the status of grounded and reactivated Qatar Airways A350s in June 2023, it looked like a dozen or so jets remained parked. By that time, several airframes had been returned to service, with a handful more within the technique of being repainted.
Now, as per Planespotters.net data, there are only two A350s currently marked as ‘parked:’ The A350-1000 registered A7-ANA, and the -900 registered A7-AMK. Each jets have been operating regular industrial services up to now few months. It’s price noting that, while A7-AMK was never grounded for an prolonged time frame, it has been in Shannon since February 8. This may increasingly indicate routine repainting or the appliance of a special livery.
At the top of the day, with the return of A7-ALF, Qatar Airways ought to be thrilled to have all of its ‘surface degraded’ A350s finally repainted and flying revenue services once more.