The European aircraft manufacturer Airbus said today that it would be two to six months late in delivering its new superjumbo A380 airliner to airlines.
The delay raises the risk of financial penalties on the European consortium for late delivery, but Airbus declined to comment on any such penalty clauses in its contracts.
An Airbus spokeswoman said that the airliners would be delivered with a delay of 'two to six months depending on the case'. 'We are in the process of reviewing the timetable. We are informing all of our customers,' she added.
Australian airline Qantas had said earlier today that deliveries to it of A380 airliners would be delayed by at least six months.
Qantas head Geoff Dixon said that the first of the 12 superjumbo aircraft ordered by the airline had been delayed from October 2006 to April 2007.
Qantas was the second airline to have reported a delay of deliveries after Singapore Airlines, the first company to order the new aircraft.
Singapore Airlines had said at the beginning of May that that the first of its planes would now be delivered in the second half of 2006 instead of in the first half. It now expects delivery in the last quarter of 2006.
