'Major review' for A380 deliveries

PARIS, France (AP) -- Airbus said Tuesday that the European planemaker is conducting a "major review" of its planned delivery schedule for its A380 superjumbo, which has been plagued by past delays.

Speaking at a company site in the United Arab Emirates, CEO Thomas Enders was quoted by a spokesman as acknowledging that reaching Airbus' goal of delivering four A380s per month by 2010 won't be easy.

"We're currently conducting a major review" of the superjumbo program, Enders said at the opening of an Airbus material and logistics center in Dubai, headquarters of A380 customer Emirates Airlines.

His comments were relayed by Airbus spokesman Stefan Schaffrath. The spokesman withdrew earlier comments saying Airbus is "confident more than ever" about the program that he had attributed to Enders.

Airbus has previously said it is committed to handing over 13 A380s in 2008, 25 in 2009, and 45 in 2010.

"The A380 is in the critical phase of steep production ramp-up" as Airbus switches from an individualized -- or "haute couture" -- approach to full industrialization, Schaffrath said.

Airbus is reviewing whether workers and suppliers are ready for the change, and whether the delivery schedule can be maintained, Schaffrath said.

The review is "standard practice" at this stage in the plane's development, he said.

Any uncertainty might not go down well with Airbus' existing customers for the A380, whose patience has already been stretched, nor with potential converts.

The planemaker has already been hit with penalties for late delivery of the A380, which, combined with spiraling development costs, wiped billions of dollars off profits.

Enders said in October that increasing A380 production is Airbus' greatest challenge for the coming years. The workload of making one A380 is equivalent to eight of the single-aisle A320, Airbus' most popular jet.

The latest airline to receive a new A380 is Singapore, who took possession of the plane April 26, before starting daily flights from Singapore to Tokyo Narita, May 20. This is the fourth craft of their total order of 19.

Emirates, the airline with the biggest order of A380s, is expecting delivery of five planes in 2008, and hopes to roll them out in major routes over the end of this year and the beginning of the next.

The airline plans to start flying the aircraft on routes from Dubai to New York October 1, to London Heathrow December 1 and to Sydney-Auckland February 1, 2009.

Also Tuesday, Airbus announced that Tunisair has ordered 16 new jetliners from the European planemaker.

Airbus said in a statement that the "letter of acceptance" from the Tunisian carrier covers the purchase of 10 single-aisle A320s, three wide-body A330s and three of the revamped, long-range A350 XWBs.

Airbus did not provide a value for the deal. Based on list prices, the deal would be worth about $1.94 billion -- though airlines often negotiate substantial discounts.

The announcement came on the second day of a state visit by French President Nicolas Sarkozy to Tunisia.

Shares of EADS, Airbus' parent company, rose 0.7 percent to 15.80 euros ($24.70) in afternoon Paris trading. E-mail to a friend

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