We can forgive six months late but not more he said

The announcement of new delivery delays of six to seven months for the Airbus A380 yesterday frantic investors. As EADS, the parent company of the European aircraft manufacturer, was unscrewed in the stock market ending the session down 26.32 on a course of 18,73 euros. "The sanction of the operation truth", conducted by the company, according to the spokesman of the group. EADS indeed unveiled a new schedule for the delivery of future A380. The first aircraft will be delivered well year to Singapore Airlines, but the planned shipments in 2007 will "probably" be limited to 9 units instead of the 25 planned, and will still be reduced "5 to 9 copies in 2008" and about five in 2009, said the company. These additional delays, in addition to the six months already announced in May 2005, should cost total of more than 1 billion and a half euros to the group between the additional costs related to the reorganization of production and the compensation to be paid to the airlines, between 2007 and 2010. To add a shortfall, which could reach EUR 1 billion in 2008

and the risk, non-trivial, possible losses of commands.

Singapore Airlines, Emirates and Qantas, three 16 client companies of the A380, have already indicated that they would negotiate additional compensation. "We are very disappointed, but we will investigate ways to reduce these delays and their impact with Airbus," said Singapore Airlines. Emirates threatens to review its order book, which includes 43 copies of very widebody. The company of Dubai will be not delivered before October 2007, which pushes the commissioning of its first aircraft in January 2008. "We consider our position and we discuss with the manufacturer in the coming weeks," said a spokesman. Last December, its Director General, Tim Clark, had already expressed his irritation with Airbus. "We can forgive six months late, but not more", he said. Malaysia Airline said that it "reviewed the terms" its command on 6 units.

Relative serenity of Air France

More conciliatory, the CEO of Thai Airways, Apinan Sumanase, found that his company, which ordered six A380, would not be impacted. "Our first deliveries have already been postponed to early 2009;" "even if they are still delayed by a few months, this won't affect our plan", he said yesterday. The Thai national company, which aims to compete with Singapore Airlines for routes between Europe and Asia, could even benefit the inconveniences inflicted to its competitors.

Air France displays the same relative serenity: "we were informed by Airbus for its problems, but no official notification of report do addressed us," said a spokesman for the company, which has no intention of changing its A380 orders. Already delayed to October 2007, the delivery of its first aircraft was delayed until summer 2008 by the company itself who did not wish to put it into service during the winter season. The first aircraft expected to be operational on the line Paris-Beijing for the Olympic Games. The European aircraft manufacturer also committed would be with China Southern, to deliver in time for the Beijing at least one of the five A380s ordered. The new delay, several times denied help not sales of the device, blocked since a year 159 copies. This is even the point of balance, fixed at 300 copies. It could also help Boeing to sell the new version extended his Boeing 747, scheduled for 2008. All this occurs while Airbus must announce its final decision in the coming days for the changes to the A350, its future long-haul jet, as well as the A330-A340 family.

This redesign of the program should push back 2012 entry into service of the future Jet, four years after its competitor Boeing 787. In the end, it is the long-haul range of the constructor, thus found under uncertainty.