Deliveries Trimmed Back To 14 From 21, '10 Stats Not Much Better

Time are tough... from the malaise of the LSA and ultralight industry, all the way to the mighty Airbus A380 Jumbo-Jumbo Jet. Airbus is admitting that deliveries for 2009 are going to fall far short of what they had expected just a few months ago.

The company blames "the current economic and aviation crisis and following specific customer requests for deferrals," for the drawback from a once-expected 21 deliveries all the way back to 14. The 2010 stats have also been adversely affected with some 20 deliveries expected out of once was thought to be some 45 aircraft. The quarter-billion dollar aircraft (Base price $237M), has been forced to discount heavily to keep the orders it has so far and a number of customers have also exacted penalties for the many delays, some 2 years, that plagued the program's delivery start-up. 

While Airbus expects little effect on their 2009 bottom line, the delivery reductions may yet escalate. Companies that include entities such as  Air France-KLM, China Southern, Kingfisher and Qantas have already pulled back on initial deliveries and a number of other orders are rumored to be "soft."

The Airbus A380 came on the scene as something of a shock to Boeing, who had held the "Jumbo" crown for decades. The massive A380 is a double-deck, wide-body, four-engine airframe which made its maiden flight 27 April 2005 in Toulouse, France.

The first revenue flight was made 25 October 2007 with a Singapore to Sydney run for Singapore Airlines. Unlike the Boeing 747, the A380's upper deck extends along almost the entire length of the fuselage. The cabin has some 50% more floor space than the Boeing 747-400, and provides a seating plan that allows for 525 people in a standard three-class configuration or up to 853 people in its all-economy incarnation. Both passenger and freight versions are being offered to carriers.

FMI: www.airbus.com