Airbus aims for two A380 deliveries per month

Following a series of delays in the delivery of its superjumbo aircraft, Airbus plans to further ramp up production and reduce backlog by delivering two A380s per month, a top official has said on Monday.

Tom Enders, President and CEO of Airbus, says they have undoubtedly faced “production hiccups” in their A380 programme, but they are optimistic that they can increase production and deliver as many of the superjumbo planes as they can.

“Our next target is to produce and deliver two (A380) aircraft per month. It is quite probable that we’ll miss out on a couple of deliveries we planned this year, but these aircraft will not be scrapped. They will be delivered in January 2010, so they will be two-three weeks [delayed],” he said.

Earlier this month, Sheikh Ahmed Bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Chairman and Chief Executive of Emirates Airline Group, said they are sticking with their order of 58 A380s despite delivery delays from the French aircraft manufacturer.

The Dubai-based airline is the biggest A380 customer and currently has five superjumbos in service. With the delivery delays Emirates is expected to have only 15, instead of 20, A380 aircraft by next year.

Enders said they are very confident about the superjumbo’s performance as a commercial passenger aircraft.

“The customer feedback we’ve received are very encouraging. These aircraft are bringing real profit to our customers in terms of fuel saving and operating costs. And that has been documented and announced by Singapore Airline, Emirates and Air France,” he said.

Middle East as aviation hub

Airbus also released on Monday its global market forecast, which mentioned that the Middle East needs about 1,418 aircraft worth more than $243 billion (Dh894 bn) to meet passenger air travel demand in the next 20 years.

Quoting a report by the International Air Transport Association (Iata), Enders said despite the shrinking air traffic in the global travel industry, the Middle East still managed to post an 18 per cent revenue passenger kilometers (RPK) growth from September 2008 to the same period this year.

“This sends a strong signal of encouragement for the entire aviation industry. The Middle East is still the hub of aviation growth,” Enders said.

In its forecast, Airbus mentioned that the Middle East will sustain very strong traffic growth in the next 10 years as it boosts its domestic market as identified by low-cost carriers (LCC) offering short-haul commercial service within and outside the region.

“The region’s ideal geographic location near to growing markets like those of India, the CIS and Eastern Europe will also serve to provide opportunities for more traditional and low-cost carriers. Traffic is forecast to grow at 6.6 per cent, faster than any region, including Asia,” the report said.

Intercontinental network are also expected to grow LCC players increase and existing airlines add more routes and expand their fleet.

According to the French aircraft manufacturer, air traffic in Dubai and Abu Dhabi alone has increased by a whopping 234 per cent in the past 10 years. It expects the region to have an average annual passenger growth rate of 6.4 per cent in the next 10 years and 5.4 per cent from 2019 to 2028.