Deliveries of Airbus A380 superjumbos face further delay

16 May, 2008: European aircraft manufacturer Airbus Industrie, based in Toulouse, France, has cautioned its clients that there could be more delays in deliveries of its A380 superjumbo.

The Airbus A380 is the world’s largest passenger aircraft.

The Franco-German aircraft maker will “nearly manage” to deliver 13 of the aircraft in 2008 as planned, the German magazine Wirtschafts-Wochen has reported, quoting unnamed insiders.

The German newspaper Die Welt too reported that Airbus is unlikely to keep its delivery schedules.

Airbus Industrie’s plans to sell two French plants to aerospace firm Latecoere might not succeed, either, because of difficulty in financing the deal, according to Die Welt. “The economic environment, together with the tensions in the financial markets and the alarming decline of the dollar relative to the euro, also exist for Latecoere,” the newspaper quoted Fabrice Bregier, vice-president of Airbus, as saying.

It is also unlikely that Airbus Industrie will be able to stick to the schedule to deliver 25 planes during 2009 and that it is also highly doubtful whether the company will attain its target of producing 4 planes a month, the magazine Wirtschafts-Wochen said.

Airbus, a subsidiary of the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company (EADS), delivered the first A380 superjumbo to Singapore Airlines in October 2007 – 18 months late – on account of production problems.

Reasons for the delay, according to the German magazine Wirtschafts-Wochen, include quality issues with components produced by suppliers as well as demands by airlines for the jet’s individual interior design, which resulted in making the production more complex.

According to the magazine, 17 airlines have so far either ordered or committed to ordering 193 Airbus A380s.

The A380 has been plagued by big delays and cost overruns running into billions of euros – leading the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company (EADS) into losses, paving the way for a shake-up at top-level management as well as a major restructuring programme.

Meanwhile, shares in the European aerospace firm EADS have fallen on reports by the German media that Airbus could be forced to delay further deliveries of its A380 superjumbo, BBC has reported.

In March 2008, Airbus had held talks to sell its three factories in Germany to a German consortium. Airbus’ efforts to sell its factories in Germany are a part of a plan to reduce costs as the strong euro is weakening the company’s competitiveness in the aircraft-making sector.

Airbus had, in April 2008, announced a rise in prices across its range of aircraft on the ground that prices of metals have increased and US dollar has weakened.