Emirates Seeks to Slow Last Few Deliveries Airbus A380 Deliveries
Emirates Seeks to Slow Last Few Deliveries Airbus A380 Deliveries
(Bloomberg) --
The top customer for Airbus SE’s A380 double-decker jetliner is seeking to delay delivery of the last handful of orders, as the coronavirus pandemic eviscerates demand for flight.
Dubai’s Emirates, the world’s largest long-haul airline, still plans to take the eight remaining A380s and is discussing the timing of the handovers with Airbus, the people said, according to people familiar with the matter. The talks are ongoing and no decision has been taken on when Emirates will receive the planes, the people said, asking not to be named because the negotiations are private.
Emirates, by far the biggest customer for the A380, had already pared back its order last year, prompting Toulouse, France-based Airbus to wind down production of what was once its flagship product. Now it and other airlines including Deutsche Lufthansa AG and Qantas Airways Ltd. are parking the planes, which are hard to fill in configurations that can exceed 600 passengers.
Low demand for travel prompted the Middle Eastern carrier to ground more than 20 Airbus A380 planes, according to a person familiar with the matter, adding that the airline plans to ground more jets. Emirates’ fleet comprises 115 Airbus A380s and 155 Boeing 777s.
Last year’s decision by Emirates kicked off a sweeping fleet review at the carrier, with the superjumbo ceding its role as the linchpin of a strategy that made Dubai the leading hub for flights around the globe. Airbus announced at the time that A380 production would end in 2021.
Airbus declined to comment. Emirates didn’t respond to requests for comment.
With the coronavirus crisis upon them, airlines around the globe are deferring aircraft deliveries of all stripes to preserve cash and lower operating expenses. Passenger revenues could drop as much as $113 billion this year if the virus spreads extensively, according to the International Air Transport Association, the largest global airline trade group.
State-owned Emirates said Thursday it’s trimming costs to cope with a rapid pullback in travel and mounting restrictions in place to combat the disease.
To contact the reporters on this story: Layan Odeh in Dubai at lodeh3@bloomberg.net;Siddharth Philip in London at sphilip3@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Anthony Palazzo at apalazzo@bloomberg.net, Christopher Jasper
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