Qatar Airways has secured an expedited trial and early disclosure in legal proceedings against Airbus in the UK High Court related to the surface degradation issue affecting its A350 aircraft. The expedited trial will provide a swift resolution of this unprecedented dispute, the Doha-based carrier says. It will also be able to get an insight into the true nature of surface degradation affecting the A350s and the cause of damage.

Lufthansa and French shipping company MSC submitted a joint bid to purchase new Italian airline ITA Airways ahead of a deadline of midnight on 23 May, the German group has confirmed. Reuters is reporting that a rival approach has been made by Air France-KLM, Delta Air Lines and US investment firm Certares. In a statement, Lufthansa says it and MSC submitted their approach ahead of the deadline but does not comment further. Lufthansa chief executive Carsten Spohr has previously disclosed that the group was evaluating the new carrier's data. ITA was formed out of defunct Italian flag carrier Alitalia, taking on much of its fleet, network and staff. Spohr, speaking March, sought to allay fears that an investment in ITA could become a drain on cash resources, Alitalia having required frequent injections of liquidity from the Italian government. Spohr argued that ITA was a reformed business. "We know what we are doing in Italy, don't worry," he said during a results presentation. "I hear my shareholders – don't worry, we know there is a legacy." ITA's fleet spans around 50 aircraft, data shows, compared with Alitalia's 80, while staff numbers have been slashed. Lufthansa has said it sees Italy as its second most important market after Germany. Meanwhile, SkyTeam members Air France-KLM and Delta are reported by Reuters to have teamed up with US investment group Certares on a rival bid for ITA. Delta and Air France-KLM, which is 5.6% owned by the US carrier, have agreed codeshare deals with ITA. An approach involving New York-based Certares would tally with the group's wider strategy of investing in the travel and tourism sectors. Certares currently holds positions in LATAM Airlines and Brazilian airline Azul, as well as Avia Solutions Group. "Our investing activities focus on several key sectors, including travel and tourism, hospitality, business and consumer services," it says on its website. The parties did not respond to a request for comment. Italian economy minister Daniele Franco told the country's parliament earlier this month that the government planned to privatise ITA through a direct sale while retaining a minority, non-controlling stake, according to Euronews. Any buyer must be at least 51% European-owned. "The outcome of the negotiations is not a foregone conclusion. We will examine the three offers in a transparent way. There is no decision on our part at present," Franco was quoted as saying. EU rules state that Italy can provide up to €1.35 billion ($1.44 billion) into ITA by 2023. The state provided €700 million in 2021 and set to inject a further €400 million this year and €250 million in 2023.

Rising fuel price has pushed Qantas Group to cut domestic capacity even though the network continues to show strong demand across all categories. “Fuel prices have kept rising over the past month and require the group to rebalance capacity and fares in response,” Qantas says in a statement today. It plans to cut July and August capacity further, from 107% of pre-Covid-19 levels to 103%, and will adjust capacity according to market conditions. “These adjustments are not expected to materially impact customers due to the large number of flights on most routes… In practical terms, these changes will generally lead to a higher seat factor on flights across the group.”