Airbus to take industrial decision on future of A380F 'within days' as UPS extra thinking time ticks on
By Justin Wastnage

Airbus admitted yesterday that the future of the A380 Freighter could be decided in the next few days, with the decision by remaining customer UPS to delay taking delivery of the its order for 10 of the type past 2010 potentially affecting the industrial decision to launch the type.

Airbus has reached an agreement with UPS to change the delivery dates for the 10 A380 freighters it has on order, and to allow the US cargo operator more time to make a decision on whether to proceed with or cancel its order.

UPS says the agreement specifies changed delivery dates and provides for possible termination of the original purchase agreement by either party later this year. UPS was originally scheduled to take delivery of the freighters between 2009 and 2012. The cargo operator does not disclose the new delivery dates contained in the agreement for the delayed aircraft.

Airbus chief executive Louis Gallois said yesterday in Toulouse that the delay could make the development of the freighter variant commercially unviable. "UPS will probably postpone to the next decade the delivery of the aircraft - we will have to take that into account. Probably we will take an industrial decision on the A380F in the next days. We want to keep open the possibility of reopening manufacturing."

Airbus has already made some key subassemblies for the freighter. Development of a higher gross weight passenger variant is also linked to the A380F programme.

“UPS’ decision to purchase the A380 freighter was based on a lengthy evaluation of our future network needs to meet customer demands across a variety of global trade lanes,” says UPS vice president of airline and international operations Bob Lekites.

“Those needs still exist and UPS has been carefully evaluating various options since Airbus announced production delays late last year.”

He adds the agreement reached with Airbus allows UPS “additional time to evaluate our network requirements and make a decision once and for all as to how best to ensure service to our customers”. That extra time is expected to run out some time in early March.

UPS is Airbus’ only A380 freighter customer following the loss of an order held by FedEx and the conversion to A380 passenger variants by Emirates and International Lease Finance (ILFC). The freighter programme once had 27 firm orders.
Spread the word: relatedbo

 

Hopefully, we're talking to Boeing about the -8F. It would sure be nice to see a reduction in our dealings with EADS.

TH1

 

Airbus announced this afternoon that it has halted work on the cargo version of the A380, but plans to resume production at a later date.....maybe the next decade!!!

 

Thursday, March 1, 2007

UPDATED: 1:58 PM
A380 freighter work suspended
The Associated Press

Financially troubled European airplane maker Airbus has stopped work on the freight version of its new A380 superjumbo so it can focus more on the troubled passenger version of the aircraft, a spokesman for its parent company said today.

''The work on the freight version of the A380 has just been temporarily cut off ... so that all capacities can be directed at the A380 passenger version,'' said Michael Hauger, spokesman for the European Aeronautic Defence & Space Co.

UPS is the last remaining customer the freighter and last week announced an agreement with Airbus that would allow either side to cancel the 10-jet order. The two sides also formalized a later delivery date for the first jet.

UPS originally ordered the 10 jets in January 2005, with options to buy 10 more in a deal valued at roughly $2.8 billion at list prices.

Airbus spokeswoman Ann de Crozals said the decision to postpone work on the A380F came after the UPS decision.

''Following the rescheduling with UPS, development work on the A380F has been interrupted but the program is still ongoing,'' de Crozals said. ''It's not a decision to stop the program.''

There is a new development schedule for the freight version A380F, Hauger said, adding that the company believes there is a sales potential for 400 models of the A380 freight aircraft in the next 20 years.

Toulouse, France-based Airbus is struggling to survive the crippling fallout from a two-year delay to the A380 and the weaker U.S. dollar _ in which the planes are priced.

De Crozals said no date had been set for work to resume on the freight version of the aircraft.

FedEx Corp. canceled its order for 10 A380s in November, saying Airbus's production problems were threatening its international expansion plans. Instead, it ordered 15 Boeing 777 freighters and options for 15 more in a deal valued at about US$3.5 billion at list prices.

 

I still wonder who will cancel it in the end, UPS or Airbus? Or are we going to convert our options into 330's perhaps?