Strong words fly over 45 non-flying super-jumbos

Emirates, the biggest single airline customer for the A380 super-jumbo, has indicated it will stick with its US$13 billion ($19.6 billion) order for the troubled aircraft, but made a scathing attack on the management of Airbus and said it was also considering buying a rival Boeing jet.

The gulf carrier's president, Tim Clark, described Airbus' handling of the A380 fiasco as "woeful" and said Emirates expected further delays in delivery of the 45 aircraft it has ordered.

Clark said the two-year delay on the A380 programme would cost Emirates "several hundreds of millions of dollars" in lost revenue and create a "big dent" in profits.

But it had no plans to cancel any of the order because the 600-seat plane was "integral" to its expansion plans.

"We didn't buy 45 A380s just to then lose the competitive edge these aircraft are giving us," Clark said.

"These will give a stupendous improvement to our bottom line. We are not going to throw these advantages away."

Emirates was yet to begin negotiations with Airbus about compensation for the delays.

Clark said Emirates was cancelling an order for 18 long-range Airbus A340-600 aircraft as they were no longer suitable for its route expansion plans. This was likely to form part of the compensation negotiations.

He also said Emirates was looking to lease an extra seven Boeing 777s next year to help fill the gap left by the delays to the A380, and might buy some passenger versions of Boeing's stretched 747-8 jumbo jet which can carry about 470 passengers.

- INDEPENDENT