Shortly after the European aircraft manufacturer Airbus canceled a bulk order for 50 A321neos from the Gulf carrier Qatar Airways, it was announced that Boeing had signed a letter of intent for a larger number of 737 Max. This should now be obsolete.

Airbus and Qatar Airways are involved in separate court cases in the UK. Among other things, it is about the airline alleged quality defects in the machine type A350, but also about them Cancellation of the A321neo bulk order. The aircraft manufacturer now demanded a copy of the agreement the Gulf carrier has signed with Boeing, will be submitted to the court.

Just a few weeks ago, Qatar Airways announced that it would not operate the Boeing 737 Max itself, but this one will be used by an unspecified subsidiary. However, they do not want to disclose the documents requested by Airbus, but instead argued, according to a Reuters report, which refers to court documents, that the letter of intent is no longer valid and has already expired.

This is quite unusual, because it is quite common in the industry that some time can elapse between the signing of the so-called LoI and the actual purchase contract. For example, the IAG was given several years in terms of Max-Order. Accordingly, it cannot be ruled out that Qatar Airways simply does not want to disclose the document.

Neither the airline concerned nor the manufacturer Boeing wanted to comment on the process. Since part of the MOU also refers to the Max-10: At the moment, the future of this program is completely open, because this type of machine has no certification. The aircraft manufacturer is now putting pressure on and threatening that the Max-10 could be completely abandoned, if you do not receive the necessary approval by the end of the year.