September 2022, the 500th A350, an A350-900, was delivered to Iberia. , the global A350 fleet had 3.36 years average aircraft age, had completed more than 934,000 flights on more than 955 routes, and had carried more than 241 million passengers since its entry into service; the fleet had 99.4 percent operational reliability in the last 3 months. Qatar Airways paint dispute In August 2021, as several A350s were sent in to be repainted for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, Qatar Airways discovered that their paint was unusually degraded. The airline grounded its airliners until the root cause could be determined, and would not accept deliveries until the problem could be solved. The European regulator, EASA, found that paint degradation did not affect the aircraft structure nor introduces "other risks". Singapore Airlines had not detected such problems with its fleet. In November 2021, Reuters found that Finnair, Cathay Pacific, Etihad, Lufthansa and Air France had also complained of paint damage as early as 2016. On 20 December 2021, Airbus received a formal legal claim in the English courts filed by Qatar Airways. Qatar Airways alleged that the surface flaws cause the risk of fuel tank ignition due to the degradation in lightning protection over the fuel tanks in the wings. The court hearing was originally scheduled for summer 2023. Both Airbus and Qatar Airways agreed to settle the dispute on 1 February 2023. The Qatar civil aviation regulator was the only one agreeing with the airline. Qatar Airways was claiming a $200,000-per-day compensation for each grounded aircraft. Airbus decided to cancel Qatar’s outstanding orders, showing that it was certain of its case. While the settlement is confidential, Airbus may benefit more as there is no major impact to Airbus’s finances, the A350 reputation remains intact and Qatar’s A321neos will be delivered three years late, underlining their price was not renegotiated. Variants The three main variants of the A350 were launched in 2006, with entry into service planned for 2013. At the 2011 Paris Air Show, Airbus postponed the entry into service of the A350-1000 by two years to mid-2017. In July 2012, the A350's entry into service was delayed to the second half of 2014, before the -900 began service on 15 January 2015. In October 2012, the -800 was due to enter service in mid-2016, but its development was cancelled in September 2014. The A350 is also offered