The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
The Spokesman-Review Newspaper The Spokesman-Review
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883
Current Temperature
50°F
Current Conditions
Broken clouds
View complete weather report
Subscribe now

A380 deliveries delayed

Airbus confirmed Wednesday that it may delay delivery of the A380, shown here in its maiden flight last month, to its customers by up to six months. (Associated Press / The Spokesman-Review)
Associated Press
Airbus confirmed Wednesday that it may delay delivery of the A380, shown here in its maiden flight last month, to its customers by up to six months. (Associated Press / The Spokesman-Review)

PARIS — The Airbus A380 may have overcome its weight problem, but the full cost of beating the bulge looked set to mount Wednesday as the European plane maker confirmed delivery delays of up to six months.

“We’ve now spoken to A380 customers and told them how they will be affected,” Airbus spokesman David Velupillai said. “The delays range from two to six months depending on the customer.”

Airbus, which is betting on the A380 to maintain the lead it took over U.S. rival Boeing Co. in 2003, had warned launch customer Singapore Airlines Ltd. in April that it would receive its planes late next year instead of in March. Singapore CEO Chew Choon Seng has since said he plans to demand compensation.

But the Toulouse-based plane maker conceded Wednesday that the delay could affect other A380 customers, after Air France-KLM Group, Emirates and Australia’s Qantas Airways Ltd. said they too were expecting their superjumbos late.

Qantas said its 12 new A380s will arrive six months late because of “manufacturing issues,” and confirmed it will be seeking financial redress.

“This is disappointing, given that we have met all of Airbus’ deadlines for Qantas specifications,” said CEO Geoff Dixon.

Emirates said it did not yet know how late its A380s will arrive but hinted that it would be seeking compensation. “We will expect Airbus to fully meet its obligations in accordance with the contract between our two companies,” the Dubai-based carrier said.

Shares in European Aeronautic Defence and Space Co., which owns 80 percent of Airbus fell as much as 2.2 percent in early trading before recovering to close just 0.3 percent lower at 23.97 euros ($29.31). BAE Systems, which owns the remaining 20 percent of Airbus, closed 1.5 percent higher at 2.73 pounds ($4.97) in London.

Like most new airliners in development, the A380 struggled to keep its weight down and meet ambitious specifications promised to customers. Final assembly line director Jean-Claude Schoepf and his engineers sent parts back to the drawing board to be pared down, and even the paint was redesigned.

Confounding earlier reports that the plane would be 5 percent overweight, the A380 finally weighed in empty at 309 tons — just 1 percent over its original working target.

But the design challenge, as well as a decision to produce more freighter versions, contributed to a cost overrun estimated by Airbus CEO Noel Forgeard at 1.45 billion euros ($1.77 billion).

Airbus declined to comment on its exposure to compensation claims, insisting the terms of its sales contracts remain confidential. But it played down their potential impact on the program’s profitability.

In any aircraft program, Velupillai said, “deliveries begin slowly in the early years and pick up pace later on so the effects will be limited.”

He also refused to say how many of the A380’s 15 existing customers were affected by the delays.