Airbus gets Qatar A380 okay, but questions on A320 test

By Tim Hepher

PARIS (Reuters) - Airbus (AIR.PA) and Qatar Airways have resolved a three-month old dispute that had been blocking the delivery of the first of ten A380s ordered by the Gulf airline, industry sources said.

Airbus declined to comment.

Qatar Airways, which had refused to take delivery of the first three aircraft, citing concerns about the quality of the cabin interior, was not immediately available for comment.

The airline's chief executive said in July it would seek compensation for the delay.

Separately, industry sources said Airbus had been forced to hold off the first flight of the A320neo because of what one described as a "minor" technical issue that emerged in testing.

A spokesman for Airbus declined to comment on whether there had been a delay, but said the company's plan to fly the plane in the third quarter remained unchanged.

Airbus has sold over 3,000 of the A320neo, a revamped version of its best-selling A320 short- and medium-haul jet, which is due to enter service in 2015.

It has not published a detailed schedule for the maiden flight in Toulouse, France, making it difficult to verify whether the schedule has slipped within the published window.

But the sources said it was earlier expected to take place in the first half of September.

The timing of maiden flights is typically decided by the independent in-house flight-test team a few days beforehand, depending on the outcome of final tests and the weather.

Airbus is conducting ground trials but is running out of margin to ensure the flight does not slip back into the fourth quarter, which was the original target date for the debut.

The maiden flight and the first aircraft in service will use engines supplied by Pratt & Whitney (UTX.N), derived from the same family as a new generation of engines for the Bombardier (BBDb.TO) CSeries, which has suffered recent problems in tests.

"Airbus and Pratt & Whitney are working together towards the first flight and there is no change in plans to carry it out in the third quarter," the Airbus spokesman said.

Speaking at the Reuters Aerospace and Defense Summit in Washington, Barry Ecclestone, president and CEO of Airbus Americas, said he was not aware of any disruption and said Airbus had been pleased with development of the main new feature of the engine, a fuel-saving gear system.

In another key milestone this month, European safety authorities say Airbus is due to achieve certification for its newest wide-body jet, the A350, by the end of September.

(Additional reporting by Alwyn Scott, Andrea Shalal; Editing by Leila Abboud and Mark Potter)