Shock delay hits Airbus customers
SYDNEY, Australia (CNN) -- First deliveries of the new Airbus A380 have been delayed by six months because of what Australian airline Qantas says are "manufacturing issues" at Airbus.
The shock delay comes just two months after the European-built super-jumbo made a successful test flight over France on April 27.
Qantas CEO Geoff Dixon said Wednesday the airline would not take delivery of its first A380 until April 2007, and expressed disappointment at the delay.
Qantas had been due to get the first of its 12 super-jumbos in October 2006.
Dixon said that all airlines with early A380 orders were in the same situation.
This implies that launch customer Singapore Airlines, which was due to start flying the A380 in July next year, would now not get delivery until the end of 2006.
"Airbus has advised that the deliveries would be made in the same sequence with the same time differentials," Dixon said in a statement released Wednesday.
Emirates, which has ordered 45 of the giant airliner, is on the same delivery schedule as Qantas.
Dixon said Qantas would be seeking compensation from Airbus, in line with the terms of its contract.
"This is disappointing, given that we have met all of Airbus' deadlines for Qantas specifications. However, we are developing contingency plans to ensure there is no impact on our schedules or available capacity during the six-month delay," he said.
The shock revelation comes as the European Union's trade chief said Tuesday he was "disappointed" with the U.S. decision to proceed with a trade case against the EU for allegedly providing illegal subsidies to aircraft maker Airbus, the major competitor to U.S.-based Boeing.
Peter Mandelson said Europe would also resume its World Trade Organization case against the United States. Both sides had suspended their cases in January, hoping for a negotiated settlement.
"America's decision will, I fear, spark probably the biggest, most difficult and costly legal dispute in the WTO's history," Mandelson said.
"It will be hard fought on both sides, and I can assure you Europe's interests will be deeply defended."
Mandelson said he "went the extra mile" in the search for a solution, "most recently as last week, by proposing an accelerated negotiation in which I was prepared to offer a reduction up to 30 percent investment ... in return for a similar offer on American side.
"But there was no appetite for compromise in Washington," he said.
U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) Rob Portman said Monday the United States would take its case before the WTO because EU member states were going ahead with $1.7 billion in new subsidies to Airbus after the failure of a negotiated settlement.
"The EU's insistence on moving forward with new launch aid is forcing our hand," said Portman in a statement.
The case centers around whether the world's two largest aircraft makers are receiving unfair support from their governments.
In January, both sides agreed to put aside their WTO cases to come up with a negotiated settlement. But the 90-day period lapsed without an agreement.
