In a Q&A video posted on IAG’s website CEO Willie Walsh said that the delivery of BA’s first A380 superjumbos would "probably" be pushed back “towards the third quarter” of 2013.
BA is scheduled to become the first carrier to take delivery of both the Airbus A380 and Boeing Dreamliner aircraft, and while exact delivery dates have not been published, it has been reported that the airline would receive its first superjumbo in April next year (see the latest discussion on our forum).
But Airbus has recently been hit by issues with cracks discovered on the wings of several of its A380 aircraft, which the manufacturer has indicated may lead to a drop in deliveries of the superjumbo in 2013, and in a video posted on iairgroup.com, the group’s CEO Willie Walsh said:
“We are in discussions with Airbus about deliveries. The A380 deliveries will be pushed back and it’s likely we will continue to take delivery of the A380s in 2013 but it will be probably towards the third quarter of the year before we take delivery of those aircraft.
“The 787s remain broadly on target in terms of delivery – there’s been a little bit of slippage but nothing of any great significance.
“We remain broadly on target to take delivery of the A380s and 787s.”
IAG also reported its latest financial results today (August 3), showing a first-half operating loss for subsidiary Iberia of €263 million, compared to a profit of €13 million over the same period for BA (click here for more details).
Visit iairgroup.com.
Report by Mark Caswell
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