Mon, Oct 30, 2006
"Attractive" Deal Also Includes Four A330s
Airbus is ending what
has been its best month all year with
even better news: as negotiators with Australia's Qantas Airways
Ltd. haggled over compensation for delays in the delivery of its
first A380s, the carrier announced Sunday it has firmed up options
on eight more of the supersized airliners.
"Our decision to increase our order has been made after an
extensive review of the recent problems at Airbus and the delivery
schedule delays of the A380," said Qantas Chief Executive Geoff
Dixon. "We are convinced that these problems relate to
industrialisation issues at Airbus and will be remedied, and in no
way relate to the technical capacity of the A380.
"We have negotiated an attractive 'package' to firm up an
additional eight A380s," Dixon continued. Qantas now has a total of
20 A380s in the pipeline, with options on four more. The planes are
now scheduled to be delivered between 2008 and 2015.
Dixon added Qantas also reached a deal with Airbus for four
A330-200 airliners, to "help mitigate capacity concerns associated
with the delay of the airline's first A380s."
Terms of the deal weren't announced... although it's a safe bet
Qantas paid Airbus nowhere near list price for its latest planes.
The A330s will be delivered between December 2007 and December
2008.
According to the airline, terms of the new contract provide,
among other things, protection against any further delay in the
A380 delivery schedule and slide rights in the event of such
circumstances.
News of the additional A380s marks the first new orders for the
mammoth plane in close to a year.
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