Airbus Extends A380 Delivery Delays

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Airbus Extends Delays on A380 Airliner Deliveries (Update3)

By Andrea Rothman and Eric Burg

May 13 (Bloomberg) -- Airbus SAS, two years behind schedule on the double-decker A380 plane, cut the model's delivery targets for three years, saying it can't automate production as quickly as planned after wiring difficulties forced it to assemble part of the cabin by hand.

Airbus, the world's largest maker of commercial aircraft, lost money the past two years as delays on the 525-seat A380 and the A400M military transport helped wipe 3.87 billion euros ($6 billion) from profit at parent company European Aeronautic, Defence & Space Co. EADS shares have lost 28 percent this year. Toulouse, France-based Airbus said it doesn't know the cost of the latest delay.

The planemaker will deliver 12 A380s this year instead of the 13 planned, 21 airliners in 2009 rather than 25, and 30 to 40 planes two years from now instead of 42, Chief Executive Officer Tom Enders said on a conference call today. [Full Article]

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