Inside the hangar at the centre of the $1 bln Airbus-Qatar jet dispute

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. From a distance, the planes might seem like any other long-haul jetliners crowding the busy Doha hub. But a rare on-site visit by Reuters journalists showed what appeared to be evidence of damage to the surface of wingtips, tail and hull. The two planes, worth around $300m combined according to analysts, are among 23 grounded A350s at the centre of a $1b London court battle over whether the damage represents a potential safety risk, something Airbus strongly denies. The planes were grounded by Qatar's regulator after premature paint erosion exposed damage to a metallic sub-layer that provides protection to the fuselage from lightning strikes. Other airlines continue to fly the A350 after European regulators declared the aircraft safe. 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. 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. In some areas, the protective lightning mesh that sits between the hull and the paint appeared exposed and corroded. Story has more.<br/>