by Tim Hepher
LONDON (Reuters) – A British court on Friday ruled against Airbus on a technical point in its dispute with Qatar Airways over the safety of its A350s, ruling that the European aircraft manufacturer could not rely on French law known as ” blocking” which prohibits the communication of sensitive information to foreign entities.
Invoking a security issue, the Doha airline is claiming $ 1.4 billion in damages from Airbus, which it accuses of design defects – paint degradation, erosion of the protective layer – on its A350 aircraft.
If the European manufacturer recognizes defects of finish, it refutes any risk for the safety of the planes.
In addition, Airbus declared that it could not provide Qatar Airways with the thousands of documents it required in the context of this litigation, under the French law of 1968 known as “blocking”.
Intended to protect economic interests and French companies during investigations carried out by foreign authorities, this text, since supplemented, prohibits the communication of documents and information of an economic, commercial, industrial, financial or technical nature to natural or morals.
It implies that the parties go through the channels of international judicial or administrative assistance.
Airbus therefore seized a British judge for the purpose of obtaining the appointment of a special representative responsible for transmitting the documents to Qatar Airways, under penalty of exposing itself to prosecution in France for violation of the 1968 legislation.
Judge David Waksman, of the High Court in London, rejected this request, considering that the nature of the dispute between Airbus and Qatar Airways did not fall within the scope of the French law of 1968.
The two parties in conflict rely on British justice for all of their disputes.
(Report by Tim Hepher; French version Elena Vardon, edited by Sophie Louet)
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