Airbus and Qatar Airways fought in court in front of Boeing on Friday as a dispute over damage to A350 jets descended into a tug-of-war over confidential documents while the sums at stake in their unprecedented falling out topped $1.5b. Boeing was dragged into the case for the first time as lawyers quarrelled over access to a preliminary contract for its 737 MAX jets - illustrating the domino effect on a $150b global jetliner industry from the rare London legal battle. Qatar Airways is suing Airbus in a division of the High Court over damage to the painted surface and anti-lightning system on A350 jets, saying safety could be at risk. Backed by European regulators, Airbus acknowledges quality flaws but insists the jets are safe. The two sides must provide each other with thousands of pages of documents as their dispute - which has already altered the shape of planemaking competition - heads towards a rare London aerospace trial in mid-2023, barring a settlement. The case has shone a spotlight on the inner workings of the jet market, including contractual details and the industrial playbook for preparing delivery of new jets. The number of A350s grounded by Qatar because of surface damage rose this week to 28 out of 53 A350s in its fleet. Airbus said last month it had revoked all remaining A350 orders from Qatar Airways. Both sides raised the stakes again on Friday as they accused each other of foot-dragging over releasing documents. They are also urging the return of tens of millions of dollars of deposits to the airline and credit payments to the manufacturer.<br/>