German Mag Says Defects Have Led To Groundings

While touring the European Aeronautic Defense and Space manufacturing plant in Toulouse, France last month, a delegation from Dubai-based Emirates Airlines reportedly gave Airbus officials a laundry list of defects found throughout the carrier's fledgling fleet of A380 superjumbos.

Der Spiegel said a 46-page report was submitted to Airbus after the delegates' visit, outlining a number of defects which have caused breakdowns that grounded Emirates' four A380s a total of 500 hours to date.

EADS spokesman Alexander Reinhardt told Bloomberg, "Airbus takes these problems very seriously. We are working intensively to fix those problems." Reinhardt refused to elaborate on the nature of the problems, citing that customer confidentiality prevented it.

Last week, Emirates announced the possibility of delaying the delivery of more A380s. A company spokesman said simply, "We had a routine meeting with Airbus to discuss aircraft delivery positions down the line."

Emirates has ordered a total of 58 Airbus A380s, making the Mid-East airline Airbus' biggest customer.

Airbus delivered 12 A380s in 2008, and expects another 18 deliveries during 2009, a slight reduction from the 21 aircraft it had projected. Last week Air France-KLM Group said it plans to delay delivery of two A380s, while Lufthansa predicted two superjumbo deliveries slated for this year won't happen until 2010. The delays are being blamed on production difficulties.

FMI: www.emirates.com/us/english/, www.airbus.com/en/