Emirates Unhappy with first 4 A380's

[Kieran Wells]

From http://www.news.com.au/travel/story/...009000,00.html

DUBAI-BASED airline Emirates is unhappy with its first four giant Airbus A380 aircraft, which showed manufacturing faults that forced flights to be cancelled, a report said on Saturday.
The German weekly Der Spiegel, in its issue to be published on Monday, said Emirates in February gave Airbus officials a 46-page report listing its complaints, including burned electric cables, missing cabin fittings and engine defects.

A source close to Airbus told AFP on Thursday Emirates was seeking a delay in the delivery of several of the long-haul A380 superjumbo jets because of financing difficulties.

The airline is Airbus's biggest customer for the double-decker A380, having ordered 58 of them.

"Emirates could delay deliveries on several planes ... They are in talks" with Airbus, the source said on condition of anonymity.

Emirates "is beginning to have problems for the first time. We always relied on this type of company as a major stable client," the source said.

A spokeswoman for Airbus said discussions with clients were confidential.

And in Dubai an Emirates spokesperson said: "We had a routine meeting with Airbus to discuss aircraft delivery positions down the line. Like all airlines, Emirates continues to assess all options for its fleet and route operations."

Launching of the A380, which entered service with Singapore Airlines in October 2007, was delayed for months because of cabling problems and Airbus has failed to meet delivery schedules since.