A380 Orders begining to be cancelled?

[KDSM]

I was half listening to the radio at work today when I heard the news caster say ...."cancelled its A380 order and will buy 20 boeings instead." but didnt catch the name of the airline. can anyone confirm this?


The newscaster was paul harvey if it makes any difference

[C]

Or was that the story that Qantas have ordered a further eight A380s would it?

To be fair, so what if the A380 enters service a few months late. A year is very little in a potential lifetime of nearly 50.

[KDSM]

Im just asking. Was looking around the net and there are alot of airlines saying they are rethinking thier orders Dubai and UPS to name a couple

[Saitek]

They are just annoyed. The reality is these decisions are taken after much thought and many financial calculations. They are not made up by some CEO that thought a few A380's might be cool.
Most of the A380's ordered will be sold and providing it is a good reliable aircraft and proves to be worth what it appears to be worth then I think Airbus can easily see its orders take off.

[Craig.]

Or was that the story that Qantas have ordered a further eight A380s would it?

To be fair, so what if the A380 enters service a few months late. A year is very little in a potential lifetime of nearly 50.

Considering the airlines had ceremonies plannned and all the flight schedules booked and promoted rather a long way in advance, these delays not only make Airbus look stupid, but it damages the airlines image. its not a few months late, in most cases it is going to be a year or so late. Which is a lot of money lost.

[Hagar]

Considering the airlines had ceremonies plannned and all the flight schedules booked and promoted rather a long way in advance, these delays not only make Airbus look stupid, but it damages the airlines image

That sounds like counting your chickens to me. It would be interesting to know how many new aircraft are actually delivered exactly on time. I don't know about civil airliners but new military types can be years overdue, sometimes decades.

I'm not making excuses for Airbus but I'm not going to bash it either. From the little I've read the management seems to have a few problems to sort out & that's an understatement. http://uk.biz.yahoo.com/09102006/325/airbus-ceo-quit-100th-day-job.html

[Chris_F]

I would assume airlines have a sort of rolling purchasing plan when it comes to aircraft.  Kinda a "we have to buy X new planes a year to maintain the fleet" sort of thing.  So if Airbus can't deliver A380's when expected and get delayed a year then they've gotta fill the hole with something, so they give Boeing a call.  But not to worry, once the A380 gets fielded they'll buy.  Airbus loses the commit to buy in the short term but they'll eventually get the business.

Or it could just be the public side of negociations.  Airbus won't come down in price?  Quick, someone leak to the press that we're re-thinking buying the plane.  That'll hurt their stock price and let them know we mean to play hard-ball.

[Woodlouse2002]

Name a new aircraft that's been delivered on time. Any airlines that have brought A380's arn't going to cancel their orders just because the aircraft is overdue.

And even if Airbus did lose a few orders it wouldn't trouble them much. The A380 will come into it's own when airlines start thinking of replacing their 747's. Because for the first time ever there will be a choice.

[Papa9571]

Actually it is the A340 that has had canceled orders. Emirates Air canceled their order for 20 A340-600 airliners and replaced then with Boeing 777's.

Not only have they canceled their A340 they are threatening to cancel their A380 orders as well. They are talking to Boeing about developing an "A380 like" version of the 747-8 Intercontinental.

[expat]

Actually it is the A340 that has had canceled orders. Emirates Air canceled their order for 20 A340-600 airliners and replaced then with Boeing 777's.

Not only have they canceled their A340 they are threatening to cancel their A380 orders as well. They are talking to Boeing about developing an "A380 like" version of the 747-8 Intercontinental.

And of coarse Boeing can do that in a year or two with no delays. Mean while the A380 will have been in service 3 years.

Matt

[C]

Considering the airlines had ceremonies plannned and all the flight schedules booked and promoted rather a long way in advance, these delays not only make Airbus look stupid, but it damages the airlines image. its not a few months late, in most cases it is going to be a year or so late. Which is a lot of money lost.

You may have noticed that Singapore never published any date more specific than Q4 06/Q1 07...

[Craig.]

qantas did and was even taking bookings.

[Woodlouse2002]

qantas did and was even taking bookings.

That was a little foolish of them then.


As for Emirates cancelling orders, I'm sure Airbusses books have been more than balanced by recent orders from China.

[concordepilot]

Apprantly Virgin hasbn't cancelled but might be soon but Quantus has definutly but I don't know about any other.

[Hagar]

Quantus has definutly but I don't know about any other.

Not what it says here. http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2006/10/30/business/ME_FIN_COM_Emirates_Airbus.php

Airbus has taken a total of 167 firm orders for the A380, including an eight-plane order from Qantas Airways Ltd. announced Sunday.

Australia's flagship airline announced Sunday it has ordered an additional eight Airbus A380s, bringing its order for the world's largest passenger aircraft to 20.

"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," Qantas Chief Executive Geoff Dixon said in a statement.

"We are convinced that these problems relate to industrialization issues at Airbus and will be remedied and in no way relate to the technical capacity of the A380," Dixon added.

PS. It's QANTAS (Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Service).