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Airbus hopes to reach an amicable solution in a row with Qatar Airways over damage to the surface of A350 passenger jets, CE Guillaume Faury said on Thursday. The companies have been locked in a months-long dispute over paint erosion and deterioration to anti-lightning protection on the long-haul jets, which Airbus has acknowledged need attention while insisting the problems do not put safety at risk. Qatar Airways has sued Airbus for more than $600m and is refusing to take delivery of further A350s until its regulator receives formal analysis of the problem. Airbus has said Qatar Airways has mischaracterized the problem as a safety issue and misinterpreted the contract. Airbus moved recently to revoke contracts for two of the jets and a separate order for 50 smaller A321s. "We had to make the decision to exercise our rights," Faury told a results briefing. "This decision followed many attempts to find mutually beneficial solutions and we continue to hope for an amicable solution." Qatar Airways declined to comment. Both sides have pledged to defend their positions in what is seen as an exceptionally rare public dispute in the secretive planemaking industry. While Faury's remarks left the door open to a negotiated agreement, people familiar with the matter said there were few if any signs of progress in the dispute. Qatar Airways is expected to seek a ruling that would prevent Airbus from cancelling the A321 deal, while Airbus is preparing to give its own defence.<br/>

Cathay Pacific saw its passenger traffic plunge to a new low in a “difficult” January, as Hong Kong tightened restrictions to stamp out an insurgent wave of Omicron infections. The embattled airline carried under 24,700 passengers during the month, an average of just 797 passengers a day. More dramatically, the number of passengers carried in January was a mere 0.8% that of pre-pandemic 2019, underscoring the impact Hong Kong’s strict zero-infection policy has had on its home carrier. Traffic was down 23.4% year on year, while capacity fell nearly 75% as the airline operated a skeletal network in the month. Against January 2019, traffic plummeted 99%, with capacity falling nearly 98%. Hong Kong recently reimposed social gathering restrictions, including shutting gyms, bars and other public spaces, as well as prohibiting dine-in in the evening. It effectively shut its borders, banning flights from countries like the USA, UK, as well as Australia, all of which are key markets for Cathay. As at 17 February, Hong Kong reported a record 6,116 confirmed cases. Cathay’s chief commercial and customer officer Ronald Lam says the carrier was hit by weak inbound, outbound and transit traffic in January. “We’ve had a very difficult start to 2022 with the accelerated spread of the Omicron variant and the further tightening of travel and operational restrictions, notably stricter quarantine requirements for Hong Kong-based aircrew,” he states. Cargo, once the sole bright spot in Cathay’s dismal traffic results, was also heavily impacted by Hong Kong’s tightened restrictions. <br/>