By Tim Hepher

PARIS (Reuters – Qatar Airways posted a dispute worth $4 million per day with Europe’s Airbus on social media. The airline published a video showing the damaged exterior of A350 planes grounded by Qatar Airways. It said the footage highlighted “serious, legitimate safety concerns.”

Airbus says that the deterioration in paint and anti-lightning protection of passenger planes is premature, however it has been locked down for many months.

Qatar Airways issued the first official photos of the planes that were grounded by the regulator. This was after Airbus claimed Qatar Airways had engineered the dispute in order to receive compensation.

This dispute led to 21 of 53 A350s being grounded by Qatar Airways. It also cast doubt over Qatar Airways’ preparations for next year’s World Cup.

Qatar Airways seeks compensation in London from Airbus for over $600 million. Airbus has raised the stakes with a new order for 50 A321neos. The Airbus orders are for contractual and not safety disputes.

The video lasted just over one minute and half. Qatar Airways displayed degradation on two A350s that were grounded by its regulator.

Airbus claimed that “no reasonable and rational basis” exists for groundings. However, operators operating A350s elsewhere in the world have not matched Airbus’s claims.

This clip demonstrated peeling and missing paint as well damage to anti-lightning and underlying protection. The airline also described patches of structural carbon-fibre that were exposed to moisture, ultra violet light and other elements.

These images echo damage to A350s that was first shown in photos published exclusively by Reuters last Nov. As part of an investigation which showed at least five airlines reported A350-surface damage between 2016 and 2016, long before the Qatar dispute.

Qatar Airways stated that they believe Airbus should conduct a comprehensive investigation to determine the root cause of the condition.

Airbus claims it has given all the information required and determined that there are no aviation safety risks. This view was also shared by Europe’s aviation regulator.

Airbus didn’t immediately respond to the video.