Sydney: Qantas Airways Ltd., Australia's biggest airline, said technical glitches with its fleet of Airbus A380s have failed to dent demand for seats on the world's biggest commercial aircraft.

"They are really good machines and the public love them," Lyell Strambi, 51, group executive of operations at Sydney-based Qantas, said in a telephone interview. The carrier is getting more demand for A380 seats, he said.

Qantas, one of only four airlines flying the superjumbo, said teething problems for a new plane aren't unusual, with the A380 comparing favourably to the introduction of the Boeing Co. 747-400 about two decades ago.

A week ago, a Melbourne to Los Angeles flight was delayed 24 hours because of a faulty fuel indicator, leaving passengers stranded on board for five hours before they could disembark.

"When it works, it's got a lot more that works," Peter Harbison, executive chairman at Sydney-based industry consultant Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation, said.

One of a kind

"It's a one of a kind and really the number of glitches is relatively small," Harbison, who has flown on at least three A380s, said.

Qantas shares rose one cent, or 0.3 per cent, to A$2.94 at the close of trading in Sydney on Friday. The stock has fallen 1.7 per cent this year after a 14 per cent gain in 2009.

Qantas is deploying its six A380s on long-haul routes, such as Australia to Europe or North America. With many of those services landing at the world's busiest airports, delays in taking off may mean they lose their designated arrival slot.

None of the problems experienced so far has jeopardised safety on its flights, Strambi said. Qantas has never had a fatal jet accident in its 89-year history.

Qantas isn't alone in experiencing faults with the A380.

Last month, a Singapore Airlines Ltd. jet returned to Paris after two hours in the air following a cut in the power supply to onboard kitchen facilities.

Air France endured two malfunctions on its only A380 within the space of a fortnight.

This month, Emirates, the A380's biggest customer, delayed by several hours a South Korea to Dubai flight after fuel system glitches.

Any cancelled service means airlines have to put customers up in hotels or shuttle them home for another flight. Airbus pays for modifications that are needed under warranty.

Problems with the A380 get more publicity because passengers are actively seeking to book flights on them, Strambi said. The double-decker plane includes luxuries such as private cabins in first class that are a magnet for premium travellers.

"It's something I admit is a disappointment and we need to improve," Airbus CEO Tom Enders told a briefing in Seville, Spain last week.

When the plane entered service in October 2007, it was two years late and $6 billion over its original $12 billion budget.

Disruptions

Still, disruptions to the first A380 services aren't as bad as for the Boeing 747-400, Hans Weber, president of Tecop International, a San Diego-based aerospace consulting company, said.

The dispatch reliability of the A380 is about 97.5 per cent now while that for 747-400 when it was introduced was below 90 per cent, he said.

The Boeing 747-400 had its first flight in 1988 and it entered service in 1989 with Northwest Airlines Inc., as what was then the world's largest passenger aircraft.

"Today it's touted as a wonderful plane, but oh, it took a couple of years," Weber said.

Airbus is marketing the A380 as a means to link global hubs with a plane that typically seats 525 and can accommodate more than 800 people, with fuel savings of as much as 20 percent over smaller models.

Airbus has won 200 orders for the aircraft, and aims to deliver about 20 jets to airlines this year, including new clients such as Deutsche Lufthansa AG.