Airbus will be two to six months late in delivering its new super jumbo A380 airliner to airlines. 

The European aircraft manufacturer Airbus said that it would be two to six months late in delivering its new super jumbo A380 airliner to airlines.

The delay raises the risk of financial penalties on the European consortium for late delivery, but Airbus declined to comment on any such penalty clauses in its contracts.

Airbus spokeswoman Barbara Kracht told AFP that the airliners would be delivered with a delay of "two to six months depending on the case" and that: "We are in the process of reviewing the timetable. We are informing all of our customers."

Air France said on Wednesday that Airbus had told it that A380 airliners it had ordered would be delivered late.

It was to have received the first of the airliners in April of 2007. An Air France spokeswoman said: "Airbus has told us of a delay in delivery of the A380. We are talking to Airbus to work out the delay."

Air France has ordered 10 of the airliners and has an option for four more.

The Australian airline Qantas had said earlier on Wednesday that deliveries to it of A380 airliners would be delayed by at least six months.

Qantas head Geoff Dixon said that the first of the 12 super jumbo aircraft ordered by the airline had been delayed from October 2006 to April 2007.

Qantas was the second airline to have reported a delay of deliveries after Singapore Airlines, the first company to order the new aircraft.

Singapore Airlines had said at the beginning of May that that the first of its planes would now be delivered in the second half of 2006 instead of in the first half. It now expects delivery in the last quarter of 2006.

China Southern Airlines has ordered five A380 super jumbo planes in this January and they are due to be delivered before 2008, when the country hosts the Beijing Olympics.

It is not known yet whether the delivery delay will affect the orders by China Southern Airlines.

(CRIENGLISH.com via AFP June 2, 2005)