Hi sorry if this is coming up again - tried to post a little while ago but it doesn't appear to have taken.
Anyway - seen in the news:
Airbus CEO Says Two More Airlines Poised to Order A380 Planes
Toulouse, France, Feb. 21 (Bloomberg) -- Airbus SAS, whose
A380 will be the world's biggest passenger jet when it starts
service in 2006, has a commitment from one undisclosed customer
for six A380s and expects an order for at least 10 planes from a
Middle Eastern carrier, Chief Executive Noel Forgeard said.
Airbus has won 95 firm orders for the A380, which has a list
price of $260 million. Customers include Singapore Airlines Ltd.
and Qantas Airways Ltd.; Emirates, the Arab region's biggest
airline; Air France SA, Deutsche Lufthansa AG, Virgin Atlantic
Airways in Europe; and aircraft leasing company International
Lease Finance Corp. FedEx Corp. has ordered a freighter version.
"The sales momentum of this plane is good,'' said Forgeard
at a briefing with journalists, declining to name either of the
potential customers. Emirates, which already has 22 on order, said
it is considering a further purchase.
The European planemaker is developing the 550-seat A380 to
break Boeing Co.'s monopoly in commercial aircraft seating more
than 400 people. Boeing's 747 model, which began flying in 1970,
has been the only passenger plane until now capable of carrying 400 people or more.
Airbus has said it's talking to carriers in Asia about A380
orders, including Cathay Pacific, Japan Air Lines System Corp.,
All Nippon Airways Co. and Korean Air Co. The Toulouse, France-
based planemaker has said it will break even on the A380 program once it sells 250 planes. The plane costs 10.5 billion euros to develop, including 5.1 billion euros in financing by Airbus.
Cathay Pacific Talks
The planemaker has been talking to Cathay Pacific about a
"small'' number of planes, said Steven Udvar-Hazy, chief
executive of International Lease Finance Corp., the world's
largest aircraft-leasing company and a unit of American
International Group Inc.
"Airbus is working very hard on Cathay Pacific to buy even a
small quantity of A380s, bearing in mind that the competition has
ordered them,'' said Udvar-Hazy in a phone interview. "Qantas,
Virgin and Singapore have all gone with the A380s, so Cathay is a
likely candidate.''
Cathay Pacific said it hasn't signed any preliminary agreements for the A380.
"I can confirm that Cathay Pacific is very interested in the
A380, but we have not committed to it, so the six undisclosed ones can't be us,'' said Tony Tyler, director of corporate development at Cathay Pacific, in an e-mail.
Signatures Awaited
Airbus is also awaiting signatures from Qatar Airways for two
A380s and from Malaysian Airline System Bhd. for six. Malaysian
announced a commitment for the planes earlier this year and is
scheduled to sign a firm order by late April.
Dubai-based Emirates has already ordered 22 A380s. It is
scheduled to receive four A380s in 2006, four in 2007, eight in
2008 and six in 2009. Group Managing Director Maurice Flanagan
said the carrier hasn't settled on whether to order more.
"It's possible, but we haven't reached a decision,'' he said
in a phone interview.
Shares in Airbus's 80 percent owner European Aeronautic,
Defense & Space Co. fell as much as 27 cents, or 3.1 percent, to
8.37 euros as of 12:46 p.m. in Paris. Shares in BAE Systems Plc, the planemaker's other parent, fell as much as 5.75 pence, or 4.6
percent, to 120.5p and were down 3.4 percent at 122p in London.
--Andrea Rothman in Toulouse, France, at (33 5 6365 7668) or
[email protected]