Enders: Strong interest in A380 from airlines but program costly

Airbus CEO Tom Enders told a group of journalists including ATWOnline in Hamburg this week that the company expects to deliver 20 A380s while securing orders for "more than 20" this year, including "additional orders from existing customers."

He added, "I don't want to make airlines feel like we're putting them under pressure, but more and more it appears that an airline can only compete against an A380 with an A380."

He conceded that the manufacturer itself is under pressure to stabilize the program. Parent EADS said earlier this month that A380 program production costs and delays "weigh significantly on the underlying [financial] performance" of it and Airbus (ATWOnline, May 17).

"Sure we underestimated the high costs of this aircraft," Enders admitted, adding that it will take some time until the program becomes a net financial positive. He insisted that the learning curve to produce the aircraft is shrinking, thus lowering production costs. "We had two crises on the A380, one of them was homemade and of course [the program was hurt by the global] financial crisis," he said.

Asked if a stretched version (the so-called -900) will be launched anytime soon, he responded, "It is not on my screen for the time being. Lufthansa is not the only carrier which has shown interest [in the -900], but we have to take one step at a time."

The same goes for the A380 freighter, a big part of the program when it was launched originally that was put on hold after FedEx and UPS cancelled orders for it. "Airbus overstretched itself in the beginning [of the A380 project]," Enders explained. "We have to be realistic. First we have to bring the [current version of the] A380 into stable production." He said the company plans to produce two per month in 2011.