"Approximately 2,000 German employees are working in Toulouse to make up for the problems attributed to the factory Hamburg," said Enders, adding that "this is not particularly effective and is particularly expensive for the company."

In total, 16 airlines have placed firm orders for 192 aircraft, said the EADS subsidiary, noting that four had already been delivered to Singapore Airlines.

The third delay, which was announced in June 2006, had particularly hit the European group hard, pushing down the price of EADS shares on the stock exchange, in a move that triggered a serious crisis and the establishment of Power8 plan,which is a restructuring program aimed at encouraging savings, according to observers.

(Xinhua News Agency May 14, 2008)