Airbus loses bid to use French blocking law in Qatar row

  • Date: 16-Jul-2022
  • Source: Zawya
  • Sector:Technology
  • Country:Qatar
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Airbus loses bid to use French blocking law in Qatar row

LONDON - A UK judge on Friday rejected an attempt by Airbus to invoke a De Gaulle-era law restricting the way it responds to foreign courts, as a high-profile dispute with Qatar Airways became mired in a growing debate over cross-border legal powers.

Qatar Airways is suing France-based Airbus for $1.4 billion over damage to the painted surface and anti-lightning system on A350 jets, saying safety could be at risk from a design defect. Airbus acknowledges quality flaws but insists the jets are safe.

Now, the two sides must provide each other with thousands of pages of documents as their dispute heads towards a rare London aerospace trial in mid-2023, barring an elusive settlement.

Airbus says it is prevented from directly handing over documents sought by Qatar Airways by a 1968 law that stops French companies from handing over sensitive economic details to foreign courts, without a special mechanism in place.

The planemaker applied to a UK judge for permission to appoint a special commissioner responsible for transmitting the documents to Qatar Airways, something it had already done to assist UK authorities during a bribery investigation.

"Failing to set up such a conduit would expose Airbus to criminal charges in France," the planemaker said.

"This is