Air France May Swap Superjumbos For Other Models

Air France is reportedly considering dropping orders for some of the A380 airliners it has in the pipeline for other Airbus aircraft ... a move which some analysts say may be a bellwether for the European planemaker's signature airplane.

During an earnings report Thursday, Air France-KLM chief executive officer Alexandre de Juniac said that the delivery of two A380s the airline has on order has already been pushed back to 2016, according to a report appearing in the Montreal Gazette. He said the airline is still "in the process of thinking what we are going to do with those."

The move comes as Airbus has already lost two orders from Lufthansa for the superjumbo airliner, and Airbus has not landed a single order for its flagship airplane this year. The planemaker has open production slots for A380s as early as 2015.

Virgin Atlantic has also postponed delivery of six A380s to 2016.

But Airbus is not alone in its big airplane struggles. Boeing recently announced that demand for its new, larger 747-8 was weak, and that it would be cutting production of the airplane to 1.5 per month through 2015.

(Air France A380 image from file)

FMI: www.airbus.com