Kingfisher to further defer delivery of A380 superjumbos
05 Feb 2009
Mumbai: Indian carrier Kingfisher Airlines may be looking at pushing deliveries of the Airbus 380 superjumbos by another two years. It had initially pushed delivery dates from 2011 to 2012, and may now be seeking a further postponement to 2014.
An unnamed airline spokesman in Mumbai has been quoted as saying that the carrier was seeking the delay "because we want to go for a high take-off weight option." This would allow the carrier to operate the aircraft non-stop from India to the USA. There was no clarity if the manufacturer had agreed to the request.
The airline ordered five A380s in 2005 for delivery in 2010. Production delays at Airbus saw dates being pushed to 2011. This was followed by the airline asking for a deferral to 2012, and now, very likely, a new date of 2014 is being sought.
Like other carriers, domestic and worldwide, the airline is losing money by the millions and has lately struck a codeshare agreement with its principal rival Jet Airways for foreign destinations.
It has already deferred deliveries of other aircraft from Airbus such as the A320s and A340s.
Before the fuel price escalation of early 2008, and subsequently the onset of a global recession knocked the stuffing out of its plans, Kingfisher was hoping to launch international services to the Gulf , US, the Indian sub-continent and southeast Asia.
Its international operations are currently restricted to Colombo and London Heathrow.