Qatar Airways said it grounded 13 Airbus A350s over what it described as fuselages "degrading at an accelerated rate" in the long-range aircraft, further escalating a months-long dispute with the European airplane maker over the issue.
An Airbus spokesperson told Reuters the planemaker was always in talks with its customers but those discussions were confidential, declining to comment further.
Qatar Airways said in June it had grounded some of its A350 jets until the issue could be understood and fixed, without disclosing how many aircraft had been pulled from service.
It said on Thursday it had brought A330 aircraft back into service to make up for the lost capacity and was also "looking at other solutions."
Qatar Airways is the largest customer for the A350 and has taken delivery of 53 out of 76 on order.
This article has been amended from its original source.
