Surface chemical properties of nanoquasicrystalline powders of Al-Cu-Fe synthesized by the ball-milling technique have been investigated using x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The samples were exposed to ambient conditions at room temperature as well as higher temperatures. Our XPS results reveal that the surfaces of nanopowders of Al70Cu20Fe10 are coated within an Al2O3 layer within which the quasicrystalline phase resides. It also appears that the thickness of this layer does not increase significantly on either heating below 873 K or prolonged exposure to ambient conditions.