Qatar Airways has filed a $600 million lawsuit against a German/Emirati company that it says is responsible for the latest round of delays hindering the opening of the New Doha International Airport. 

Lindner Depa Interiors failed to complete the $245 million construction of 19 airport lounges this summer, “seriously affecting the airline’s expansion plans, causing huge revenue losses, increased construction costs and delay penalties, and more importantly, inconveniencing passengers,” QNA reports.

The $15.5 billion NDIA, which was supposed to open two weeks ago on Dec. 12, 2012, has already been delayed by three years, in part due to QR’s aggressive growth.

In August, the airline’s CEO Akbar Al Baker, who is in charge of the development of the airport, announced that the opening of the NDIA would be delayed again, until the second half of 2013. 

He attributed the new delay to the parting of ways between QR and one of the project’s key contractors, which was later identified as Lindner Depa.

The Dubai-based company was not immediately available for comment.

UPDATE: According to Reuters:

LDI said it had not received any legal claim from QR and described the carrier’s allegations as “false and misleading.” It said it was not able to meet its original completion deadline because it was denied full access to the project site for the first nine months of a 16-month contract.

But Al Baker said:

“The current airport we are operating from is already full to capacity with virtually no room to grow. We relied on moving to our new home, the New Doha International Airport this month, but this has not happened.”

“Operational trials of the new airport have been ongoing since the summer as everything was in place, but incomplete airport lounges proved a serious setback.”

Thoughts?

Credit: Rendering courtesy of NDIA