Airbus gambles on A380 deliveries
Airbus has said it is sticking with a goal of delivering 12 A380 superjumbo jetliners this year, with CEO Tom Enders saying he is “ready to take a bet” that the manufacturer will meet its target, Bloomberg has reported.
Enders made the statement at the company’s headquarters in Toulouse, France, as Qantas Airways received its first A380. The Qantas addition is Airbus’ seventh superjumbo delivery this year, in addition to its first delivery to Singapore Airlines in 2007.
French newspaper La Tribune yesterday claimed that Airbus would miss its 12-plane target and deliver eight to 10 A380s this year, citing an unidentified company source. Enders however, has dismissed the reports as pure speculation and said Airbus still planned to meet its goal.
“I’m ready to take a bet that Airbus will deliver more than 10, more than 11, (A380s this year)”, Enders said. “Speculating about A380 deliveries has become a game in some circles of the media,” he added.
According to aviation experts however, the real test for Airbus comes next year, when the bulk of deliveries starts.
“The difficult part is the second wave of aircraft, the production-standard planes,” said Nick Cunningham, an analyst at Evolution Securities in London, “Getting to that stage is quite difficult.”
Airbus has said it will deliver 21 A380s next year.
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