Singapore SIA may face more A380 delivery delays
By VEN SREENIVASAN
(SINGAPORE) After weeks of speculation, European plane-maker Airbus confirmed yesterday customers may have to wait an extra three months for A380 super-jumbos.
Chief executive Tom Enders said after an A380 programme review that Airbus is informing customers of changes to its delivery schedule. ‘We regret this delay very much,’ he said. ‘But this is not a catastrophic scenario and not all customers will be equally impacted.’
The latest delay is one of a string that have hit the A380 from the start. But Mr Enders said a recovery programme initiated in mid-2006 is progressing well.
Separately, SIA said yesterday it expects to receive its fifth A380 by early July, but sees some impact on subsequent deliveries after Airbus announced the new delays.
‘We have seen the announcement from Airbus, and are now waiting to hear from them in detail about what the changes to their production schedule mean for deliveries of our aircraft down the line,’ said Stephen Forshaw, SIA’s spokesman. ‘We have received our first four aircraft, and they are operating well. The fifth aircraft is well-advanced and is expected to be delivered by early July.’
But he added that any further changes in production schedule could potentially have some impact on the airline.
SIA has ordered 19 A380s and has options for six more.
At a news conference in Toulouse, France, Mr Enders and senior officials revealed yesterday that Airbus will deliver 12 A380s this year instead of 13, and 21 in 2009 instead of 25.
Airbus declined to comment on the financial impact of the latest delay or the extent of additional costs it will bear for late delivery.
The company first needs to talk to customers and evaluate the implications of the new production schedule on deliveries in 2010 and beyond, Mr Enders said. Airbus hinted that some airlines may welcome delays at it could push deliveries to their more favoured ‘high seasons’.
The A380 review assessed the programme at the critical transition point from low-rate ‘individual’ production called Wave 1 to the full manufacturing process called Wave 2.
The review showed time and resources needed for Wave 1 production aircraft were greater than expected, delaying the changeover to Wave 2.
Yesterday’s revelations follow weeks of speculation about new delays to the A380 programme. While the plane itself has been welcomed as a ‘game-changer’ by airline customers and travellers, production has been bogged down by cost overruns and delays from the start, resulting in the first plane being delivered to SIA almost two years later than originally scheduled.
Airbus reported an operating loss of 881 million euros (S$1.9 billion) last year after a loss of 572 million euros in 2006. Parent EADS reported a net loss of 446 million euros last year after a collapse in profit in 2006.
Still, Airbus won 1,341 firm orders in 2007, slightly fewer than arch US rival Boeing but higher than its own previous record of 1,055 in 2005.
EADS shares fell sharply in European trading yesterday as news of the latest A380 delay hit the markets. The big concern now is how much compensation Airbus could have to dole out to customers for the latest delays.
Source : Straits Times - 14 May 2008
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