Airbus Deliveries Postponed By Singapore Airlines
September 6, 2009 | Airline Industry, Airlines Companies, Aviation
Thursday saw Singapore Airlines, the world’s second largest airline by market value, declaring a deal with Airbus in order to postpone delivery of eight A380 aircraft – the latest step in a series of order deferment by global airlines amidst a downturn in air travel. Last month, the maiden delivery of an A380 was delayed by Thai Airways by two years to 2012.
After Airbus’ previous failure to construct the plane according to schedule and being compelled to pay compensation, a number of airlines have opted for deliveries of their superjumbo planes to be put back.
It will be between six months and 12 months later than originally planned that the deliveries to Singapore will take place under the new schedule.
Nicholas Ionides, a spokesman for the airline, said: “It is another measure that will help us better match capacity to demand during the downturn.”
No details regarding the costs associated with the rescheduling were made public by Singapore Airlines.
CLSA analyst Robert Bruce expressed, “Because you don’t need any more capacity for now, providing that there’s no cash cost for them to delay the delivery, it is positive news.”
Singapore Airlines, which is predicted to take delivery of another two aircraft this financial year, currently operates nine A380s.
It should be noted that the first quarterly loss in six years was recently posted by Singapore Airlines, which expects a full-year loss if the tough conditions continue.
