Thai Airways Interna-tional is considering cancelling its order for six Airbus A380 superjumbo jets if it fails in negotiations with their European manufacturers over compensation for delays in delivery.

THAI president Apinan Sumanaseni yesterday said the national carrier originally expected to take delivery of the first A380s in early 2009. Now, it faces a delay of about 22 months, until 2011.

As a result, the airline's network expansion will be affected, particularly on long-haul routes like Bangkok to London, Frankfurt and Paris, on which the company planned to use the larger aircraft instead of increasing the number of flights.

"We are now replanning our finances because of the delay," Apinan said.

The airline is also replanning its use of aircraft by increasing load capabilities on long-haul flights to meet higher demand.

Earlier this week, Airbus promised there would be no further delays in delivery of the new A380s, and one of the superjumbos landed at Bangkok on Tuesday as part of an effort by the European aircraft-maker to persuade THAI not to cancel its order.

Bangkok was noticeably missing from a globe-spanning test flight by an A380 that finished last week, although the plane landed in several other Asian countries. Tuesday's touchdown at Suvarnabhumi Airport was a special flight back to Asia to visit only Bangkok, after THAI threatened to pull the plug on its order for six of the 555-seat planes and demanded compensation for the delays.

Richard Carcaillet, Airbus' director of product marketing, declined to comment on the negotiations over possible fines and other compensation. "Commercial discussions happen all the time. I will not comment on that," he said.

However, he insisted Airbus would stick to its latest delivery schedule.

"We are very confident there will be no [further] delays," he said. "THAI's delivery will be on time. We have very solid and excellent relations with THAI, which has been our customer for a long time."

Three of the six A380s ordered by THAI are now due for delivery in 2011, delayed from 2009. No delivery date has been set for the remaining three aircraft.

The order is reportedly valued at US$1.7 billion (Bt60.65 billion), although the airline has declined to confirm the figure, saying only that it was "too high".

The plane has been plagued with production delays because of electrical cabling problems. With deliveries now two years behind schedule, US freight company FedEx, the world's largest express-delivery group, cancelled an order for the planes earlier this month.

If THAI cancels its order, it will be Airbus' first loss of a contract for the passenger version of the A380.

An analyst at the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation in Sydney, Ian Thomas, said Airbus needed to keep the THAI order to rebuild confidence in the company, which has been dented by the delays.

"Asia is an important market for them and the A380, particularly in the hub areas," Thomas said. "From that point of view, it's important [for Airbus] to maintain all customers, particularly at this stage."

Bangkok's new Suvarnabhumi Airport was designed to accommodate the A380, and Carcaillet said the special flight offered a chance to test the new airport's capacity to handle the giant aircraft.

Suchat Sritama

The Nation,

Agencies