. 24/7 Space News .
AEROSPACE
Airbus talks with military plane clients 'constructive': Enders
By Djallal MALTI
Amsterdam (AFP) April 12, 2017


Madrid talks with representatives from seven countries buying Airbus's troubled A400M military plane were "constructive," the boss of Airbus, Tom Enders, told AFP Wednesday, as he seeks relief from penalties due to delivery delays.

"We're not communicating about meetings like that, but I can say it was a constructive meeting," Enders said on the sidelines of the aerospace giant's shareholders general assembly in Amsterdam.

He also voiced optimism over the Airbus A380 double-decker superjumbo, even though production is due to be halved next year amid falling demand, saying "customers love it".

The original contract for the military A400M between Airbus and its clients "puts heavy penalties on us for delivering aircraft late", he said.

"This is basically an area where we want to negotiate, or discuss, with the nations how we can mitigate that."

But he insisted the "discussions are not about Airbus demanding, like back in 2009, billions of additional contributions from the nations."

The A400M was commissioned jointly in 2003 by the governments of Germany, Belgium, France, Britain, Luxembourg, Spain and Turkey, but since a delayed launch in 2013 it has run into difficulty, with behind-schedule deliveries.

In February, Enders said the group would ask clients to refrain from imposing further penalties over the delivery delays as the firm's 2016 profits nosedived due to charges related to problems with the transport plane.

Enders refused to go into further detail on the discussions underway, but praised France's continued support for the programme.

The A400M's delivery has also been hit by a string of technical problems and different requests from the governments.

- Not giving up on A380 -

Turning to the doubledecker superjumbo, Enders insisted: "We haven't given up on the A380 because the trend which we saw clearly when we started the project is visible in every area, i.e. a larger aircraft, with larger capacity."

Airbus was "working on making the aircraft more attractive" and studies on how to add 80 more seats "obviously would boost the economics of the aircraft", he said.

However, Enders stressed: "If we should run out of backlog at some point of time, look, we are building aircraft for people who want them, for airlines who want them and who pay good money for it. We're not in the business of designing or building aircraft that nobody wants."

In July, Airbus said it would cut the production rate of its A380 to one a month from 2018 to reflect reduced demand. In 2015, the manufacturer handed over 27 planes, but next year aims to deliver just 12.

The group has seen a slowdown in demand for long-distance carriers due in part to falling fuel prices which have impacted on the renewal of ageing fleets, but also as a result of weakening demand from Gulf carriers which peaked in recent years.

Airbus ended the year with a backlog of 6,874 planes with a list price of $1 billion.

Enders said however he believed Airbus still has a number of years to find new customers for the A380, and to make the planes more attractive.

"While airlines are sceptical about it because their problem is they're not sure they can fill it, customers love it," he said.

AEROSPACE
Panama's AW139 helicopters hit a flight-hour milestone
Washington (UPI) Apr 6, 2017
AgustaWestland AW139 helicopters operated by Panama's Servicio Nacional Aeronaval have achieved a 5,000-hour operational milestone. Leonardo of Italy, of which AW is a part, said the 5,000-flight-hour milestone was reached less than four years after the aircraft entered service with the country. "This milestone further reinforces the strength of the relationship between Leonardo ... read more

Related Links
Aerospace News at SpaceMart.com


Thanks for being here;
We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain.

With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords.

Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year.

If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Contributor
$5 Billed Once


credit card or paypal
SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter
$5 Billed Monthly


paypal only


Comment using your Disqus, Facebook, Google or Twitter login.

Share this article via these popular social media networks
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit GoogleGoogle

AEROSPACE
US, Russian Astronauts Prepare for April Crew Swap on Space Station

US astronaut John Glenn is buried with military honors

Russia, Europe, US Should Work Together on Space Exploration - German Agency

The long legacy of space-farming leading us to Mars

AEROSPACE
Bezos sells $1 bn in Amazon stock yearly to pay for rocket firm

US-Russia Venture Hopes to Sell More RD-180 Rocket Engines to US

US Hardware Production Begins for Money-Saving Next-Generation Rockets

'Fuzzy' fibers can take rockets' heat

AEROSPACE
Chile desert combed for clues to life on Mars

Russia critcal to ExoMars Project says Italian Space Agency Head

New MAVEN findings reveal how Mars' atmosphere was lost to space

Potential Mars Airplane Resumes Flight

AEROSPACE
Yuanwang fleet to carry out 19 space tracking tasks in 2017

China Develops Spaceship Capable of Moon Landing

Long March-7 Y2 ready for launch of China's first cargo spacecraft

China Seeks Space Rockets Launched from Airplanes

AEROSPACE
BRICS States Want to Expand Cooperation to Space Science

Mitsubishi Electric to Build New Satellite Production Facility

Ukraine Plans to Launch Telecom Satellite in Fourth Quarter of 2017

Russian Satellite Builder Reshetnev Fully Switches to Import Substitution

AEROSPACE
China Considering Cooperation With Russia on Space Debris

Mitsubishi Electric Chosen as Prime Contractor of Japanese Government's Engineering Test Satellite 9

Aerojet Rocketdyne achieves 3-D printing milestone

Despite EU fines, Greece struggling to promote recycling

AEROSPACE
Exoplanet mission gets ticket to ride

Atmosphere around super-earth detected

Possible Venus twin discovered around dim star

Inside Arctic ice lies a frozen rainforest of microorganisms

AEROSPACE
Hubble takes close-up portrait of Jupiter

Neptune's movement from the inner to the outer solar system was smooth and calm

Four unknown objects being investigated in Planet X

New Horizons Halfway from Pluto to Next Flyby Target









The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2024 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. All articles labeled "by Staff Writers" include reports supplied to Space Media Network by industry news wires, PR agencies, corporate press officers and the like. Such articles are individually curated and edited by Space Media Network staff on the basis of the report's information value to our industry and professional readership. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Statement Our advertisers use various cookies and the like to deliver the best ad banner available at one time. All network advertising suppliers have GDPR policies (Legitimate Interest) that conform with EU regulations for data collection. By using our websites you consent to cookie based advertising. If you do not agree with this then you must stop using the websites from May 25, 2018. Privacy Statement. Additional information can be found here at About Us.