149 Orders For Superjumbo, From 15 Carriers

Despite several high-profile blows to the A380 program in the past few weeks -- including the announcement Tuesday that FedEx has cancelled its orders for 10 freighter variants of the superjumbo -- one more airline has reaffirmed its committment to the plane.

Singapore Airlines, which will be the first carrier to fly the A380, said Wednesday it will go ahead with its plans to take delivery of 19 planes.

If all goes to the current plan, the first A380 will fly passengers for Singapore Airlines in October 2007. That's 10 months later than originally planned... and two years later than Airbus predicted when Singapore first signed on the dotted line.

Airbus now has 149 firm orders for the A380, from 15 airlines. Several customers, however -- most notably Emirates, the largest A380 customer with 43 planes on order -- say they're still deciding whether or not to stick with the plane.

Agence-France Presse reports other carriers in the Asia Pacific region are also mulling over their choices.

"We are still negotiating over ways to respond to the delay. No decision has been made," Thai Airways president Apinan Sumanaseni said, adding his airline will make a decision by the end of this month.

FMI: www.airbus.com, www.singaporeair.com