Airbus has started the fourth quarter of 2021 with a sprint to the finish of a trying pandemic year. Airbus has secured Air France-KLM and Singapore Airlines signed a letter of intent (loi) to purchase the freighter type. Airbus is set to give Boeing a run for it's money as it has slated to start delivering the aircraft type in 2025 ahead of the Boeing 777F freighter delivery in 2027.
Airbus has seen some controversy with it's A350 recently with respect to Qatar airways. Qatar was the Airbus launch customer of the A350 back in December 2014 and operates 56 of the aircraft type with another 7 aircraft on order. Qatar is publicly complaining about the accelerated degrading of paint on the fuselage surface on it's A350 fleet and in August 2021 had grounded 13 of the aircraft type over safety concerns.
Competition will be fierce over the next year for the competing cargo business. Stay tuned for more information to come.
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