Belavia suspends Belgrade over airspace restrictions

GLOBAL AVIATION NEWS

Airbus terminates Qatar order

Airbus has raised the stakes in a dispute with major customer Qatar Airways over grounded and undelivered A350 jets by announcing it had revoked a separate contract for 50 smaller A321neo jets the airline plans to use for new routes. The move widens a dispute that moved closer towards a rare courtroom clash, with a procedural hearing over Qatar's claim for more than $600 million in compensation over A350 flaws pencilled in for the week of April 26 in London. Airbus revealed it was walking away from the contract for A321neos in skeletal arguments presented during a scheduling session over the A350 dispute at a division of Britain's High Court. "We confirm we did terminate the contract for 50 A321s with Qatar Airways in accordance with our rights", an Airbus spokesman said following a filing setting out provisional arguments. Qatar Airways is expected to fight the A321neo contract's termination, having said it plans to take delivery of the jets even though it is refusing to take more A350s until a dispute over surface erosion on the larger planes has been resolved. The airline said in a court filing that it was "working through the practical consequences" of the A321 decision, adding that Airbus was not entitled to declare a "cross-default" on the basis of Qatar's refusal to take more A350s in the main dispute. Qatar Airways had no immediate comment on the A321neo contract, which has its roots in an order 10 years ago worth $4.6 billion at list prices, originally for a smaller version. Qatar Airways has said the A321s will help it launch flights to new markets where there is currently not enough demand for larger aircraft, but which are out of reach of smaller A320s. Qatar's first A321neo is due to be delivered in February 2023, according to the airline filing. Industry experts say the hot-selling model can easily be resold, in contrast with a drop in demand for big jets like the A350, worsened by the pandemic.

Belavia suspends Belgrade over airspace restrictions

NEWS FLASH

Belarus’ national carrier Belavia has temporarily suspended its three-weekly service between Minsk and Belgrade over a ban on the country’s airlines from entering the airspace of a number of European countries in response to the grounding of a Ryanair flight in Belarus. Ukraine’s ban on Belarus-registered aircraft resulted in Belavia cancelling services to the Serbian capital until at least June 30. “Due to EU and Ukrainian aviation bans and the inability to operate scheduled flights to Belgrade, services are cancelled from May 29 until June 30, 2021. Airline specialists are calculating possible routing options for scheduled and charter flights that are affected by the bans in order to determine their feasibility”, Belavia said in a statement. The carrier has suspended flights to more than twelve countries. The Belorussian national carrier has performed well on its service between Minsk and Belgrade, carrying a significant number of transfer passengers to Russia and former Soviet republics, with Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Armenia and Georgia achieving the best results. Belavia was the first airline to restore scheduled operations to Belgrade in May 2020 following the airport’s two-month closure. “Nobody has suggested they (Belavia) were in any way involved in this", IATA Director General Willie Walsh said. "I've made clear that we condemn what the government of Belarus has done. For the hard-working people at the airline, I think you do have to have some sympathy because they didn't do anything, but they are suffering as a result", he added.