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Emirates and Virgin Delay A380 Aircraft

30th October 2006 The biggest buyer of the world's biggest airliner, Dubai-based carrier Emirates, said on Friday the Airbus A380 was 5.5 tonnes overweight in addition to two years behind schedule.

Emirates has 43 of the USD$300 million Airbus A380 superjumbo on order and has been a vocal critic of plane maker Airbus, which is running two years behind schedule on the plane after encountering problems in installing their wiring.

The airline's first A380 is now expected to be delivered in August 2008, which will force it to lease other aircraft in the interim.

Emirates President, Tim Clark, said he plans to lease seven Boeing 777 planes and will hold onto them for 10 to 15 years, giving himself some insurance should there be any further delay to the A380 schedule.

"It would be foolish to say we do not expect anything further," Clark told reporters when asked if the third and most recent delay in the A380 would be the last.

Other airlines are also angered by the delay and have demanded late-delivery fees from Airbus. Some have threatened to cancel their orders all together.

Virgin Atlantic said on Thursday it was pushing back delivery of its first Airbus A380 superjumbo by four years, giving the planemaker time to sort out problems encountered in wiring the mammoth planes.

Virgin said it still intended to take delivery of all six of the USD$300 million planes it has on order, but now would not see its first one until 2013.

"Virgin Atlantic has reached agreement in principle with Airbus to defer deliveries of its Airbus A380 aircraft until 2013," the airline said.

"By then, we believe the A380 will have proven its innovative design over several years in commercial service. The deferral will also enable Airbus to prioritize production and deliveries for its launch customers, such as Singapore Airlines," it said.

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