DUBAI: Emirates, the world’s largest international airline, said on Wednesday it will receive all planned Airbus A380 deliveries in 2018 even though the manufacturer says its cutting the production rate of the double-decker jet.
Airbus announced late on Tuesday that it would cut the A380 delivery target to 12, down from 27 in 2015 and about half its production target for this year.
“Emirates A380 deliveries in 2018 will not be impacted,” an airline spokesperson told Gulf News in an email.
Emirates, the largest A380 operator, has previously raised concerns over fears Airbus would scrap the super jumbo programme entirely. The airline is to receive 26 A380s this year, the spokesperson said, but did not respond when asked about 2017 and 2018 delivery schedules.
Airbus said the production cut, including plans to deliver 20 A380s in 2017, was to safeguard against a glut of unsold jets. The European plane maker has struggled to find a customer base for the A380s that it once thought there was a market for at least 1,200. Emirates is the biggest customer with around 81 in the fleet and a further 61 on order. In April, Emirates bought two extra A380s that Airbus had built but struggled to sell after cancelling an order from Japan’s Skymark.
In June, Emirates President Tim Clark appeared to concede that Airbus would not meet the airline’s demands to build a newer, more fuel efficient version of the superjumbo by telling reporters “My main concern is that they stop producing the plane.”
