Emirates, the world’s biggest long-haul airline, is holding out for assurances about the future of Airbus’ A380 programme before committing to an order for more of the double-decker aircraft.
While Airbus is pushing for a deal at November’s air show in Dubai, where the carrier is based, concern that the value of used A380s will plummet if the slow-selling model is canceled represents a major sticking point, together with the current list price, Emirates airline president Tim Clark said in an interview Thursday.
“I know they would like us to do something,” Clark said in London. “At the moment we are not at that state of readiness. We need copper-bottomed undertakings that they would do everything they needed to do to keep the programme going. We don’t want to be left with aircraft that have no value.”
Airbus announced in July that it will slash A380 production to eight jets a year in 2019, down from 15 this year and 28 in 2016, casting doubt over the model’s future. That plan won’t change even if the Toulouse, France-based aircraft manufacturer gets another purchase contract before the end of this year, unless the number of planes bought was unexpectedly high, CEO Tom Enders said at the time.
Emirates is already the No. 1 superjumbo buyer, with 97 A380s in operation out of firm orders and commitments for more than 140 planes.
Enhanced Version
Airbus offered an enhanced version of the A380 in June featuring fuel-saving winglets, which combined with an already-announced layout revision accommodating 80 more people would shave 13 percent from costs per seat. More info
By Bloomberg http://www.arabianbusiness.com
