Company Cites Qantas Engine Problem As The Reason

A spokesman for Airbus said Wednesday they will deliver 19 A380 superjumbo aircraft in 2010, rather than the 20 they had targeted.

Two of the massive airplanes had been scheduled for delivery in December, but when a Qantas A380 suffered an uncontained engine failure in November, engineers had to exchange one of the engines on an airplane still on the assembly line. That swap will cause the airplane to be delayed beyond the end of the year.

Reuters reports that Airbus may seek compensation from Rolls-Royce for the delays caused by the engine failure.

Airbus had already revised its A380 delivery schedule. At mid-year, Airbus said it was on track to deliver 22 of the A380s. But that was reduced to 20 after a Koito Industries, a manufacturer in Japan which makes seats for the airplane, was found to have falsified safety documents and was forced to re-certify the safety of its seats. 

Overall, Airbus says it will deliver more than 500 airplanes in 2010. While it currently leads Boeing in deliveries, it has fallen behind the U.S. company in new orders this year.

FMI: www.airbus.com