PARIS (AFP) — The Airbus A380 superjumbo airliner is heading for probable new delivery delays, sources inside the company said on Wednesday. One source inside Airbus, who declined to be named, said that "a halving of deliveries next year seems logical in view of the industrial difficulties arising from adaptation of electric cabling to the specific requirements of customers". Another source inside the company, who declined to be named, told AFP that management had begun to inform trades union representatives of "this trend of a new delivery delay".Earlier on Wednesday the French financial newspaper Les Echos had reported that Airbus was facing further delays in the delivery of its A380 superjumbo airliner, for as much as six months. Deliveries of the airliner, which can carry up to 840 passengers, have already been delayed by at least a year because of production problems, causing upheaval in the company.
Also on Wednesday a spokeswoman for French airline Air France, an Airbus customer, said that the carrier "has been informed as have other companies" by Airbus "about a new delivery program" for the A380 and was waiting for details. Les Echos reported, without giving sources, that an Airbus executive committee had met on Monday to finalize the delivery schedule, which would lead to an additional six-month delay and a reduction in the number of planned deliveries next year.
The first A380 could be delivered as expected to Singapore Airlines in December, but it might not be put into service until April, according to the newspaper. The first A380 for Air France was not expected to be in service until April 2009, the paper added.