The delicate situation of the A380 affects not only the planes that are already in operation, but also the few units that have not yet been delivered. Airbus also has nine aircraft pending in its backlog, eight for Emirates Airline and one for All Nippon Airways (ANA).
The Japanese airline, however, acknowledged having asked Airbus to postpone delivery of the third and final A380 to the end of 2020 due to falling demand. With its playful livery with a turtle design, the four-engine is ready in Hamburg and should have been delivered last month.
Emirates would have given up on receiving five of the remaining eight A380s, according to Bloomberg. The Middle East airline plans to have three more jets by the end of the fiscal year in March and cancel the others, which Airbus would not have accepted.
Airframer would have argued that the planes are already in production, some ready and others with all the components manufactured. According to Emirates’ annual report, the cancellation involves paying a $ 70 million fine for aircraft.
Reduction of the A380 fleet
Bloomberg also cites that Emirates may cut its huge 115 A380 fleet by up to 65 units, but the airline denied last week that it plans to deactivate them. In an interview with the Financial Times, Tim Clark, president of the airline, stated that “we’re not getting rid of any of them” except for three A380s that were already scheduled.
The executive also ensured that the double-deck jet still has a “place in the Emirates international network on the scale it has before.”
