Airbus A380 Finally Delivered

Airbus has today announced its first completed A380, the model that had been subject to delay and scandal just weeks ago. The announcement came with the delivery of the model to the Singapore national airway, over a year and a half after it was first scheduled to be delivered.

A range of problems, disruptions and delays to the production of the A380 jet have crept in to postpone the delivery date more than 18 months beyond its initial timeframe. As a result of certain suspicious share transactions prior to the announcement of the delayed delivery date, the French government and certain executives have been called into question as to their alleged roles in the events.

The move was billed as a milestone in the development of air travel, seeing a capacity of up to 800 in the world’s most substantial passenger aircraft. In front of a crowd of 500, the plane was unveiled to first customers Singapore Airlines, behind schedule and steeped in controversy.

The delays to the project have come at a substantial cost to both sides, with Airbus meeting $8.5 billion of the damage, particularly as a result of certain liquidated damages clauses in their service agreement. There are currently just under 200 outstanding contracts for further units, which Airbus are hoping will help offset some of these losses.

The revised output schedule will see the company turning out an additional 13 planes over the course of the next year, moving up to one a week through the end of the decade as it meets forecast growing demand.

The new plane is set to put Airbus ahead of competitors Boeing in the competitive airways market. Boeing are currently amidst delays of their own in the release of the new 787 model, set up as a direct competitors to the new Airbus.

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