Carrier's confidence in Airbus support 'severely eroded'
Qatar Airways is demanding that Airbus finds a quick solution to a repeated technical problem that has left one of its A330-300s grounded during the airline's peak season.
The flag carrier - which is one of Airbus' largest A330 airline customers with 31 delivered or on order - has ferried the aircraft to the manufacturer's Toulouse plant after it suffered repeated uncommanded deployment of passenger oxygen masks during revenue flights.
According to industry sources, the year-old A330-300 (A7-AED) first suffered the problem while descending through 2,500ft (760m) on approach to Manchester on 8 December. The aircraft spent about 48h on the ground being checked before returning to service.
After a series of regional flights to check for a repeat of the problem, the A330 was forced to return to Doha shortly after departure on 14 December for London Gatwick when it suffered another uncommanded mask deployment.
This second failure prompted Airbus to dispatch a product support representative from Toulouse to assist Qatar Airways in carrying out extensive checks: "Everything that could be changed was changed," says a source.
Airbus believed that it had fixed the problem, but five days later the masks deployed again en route from Manila to Doha, forcing the aircraft to divert to Bangkok.
With the manufacturer at a loss to understand why the problem is recurring, Qatar Airways has flown the aircraft to Toulouse and made it clear that it wants the issue resolved once and for all.
"This repeated problem has severely eroded Qatar Airways' confidence in the aircraft, and in the support which we get from Airbus," says Qatar Airways chief executive Akbar Al Baker.
Airbus confirms: "The Qatar Airways A330 is in Toulouse to get to the root of the intermittent problem and to fix it. It's the first time we've had to deal with such an issue, which has nothing to do with cabin depressurisation."
The manufacturer adds that it is "in daily contact with Qatar Airways management about our progress".
The airline's fleet of 24 A330s forms the backbone of Qatar Airways' long-haul operations, and the grounding comes during one of its busiest times - just after the Asian Games in Doha and during the Christmas and Eid holiday periods.
The airline is understood to have rescheduled light maintenance checks to avoid the need to cancel flights.
Source: Flight International
