Riled Malaysia Airlines threatens to cancel A380 order
22 Jun 2010
Kuala Lumpur: Delayed deliveries by airframe manufacturers of advanced models of aircraft is riling airline operators no end. The latest to express dissatisfaction with the prevailing situation is Malaysia Airlines which has threatened to cancel its order of six A380 superjumbos if Airbus continues to postpone delivery of the planes, a top executive said Monday.
"We're not happy with the delays, and we'll not rule anything out at this stage," said the company's managing director, Azmil Zahruddin.
"It's very frustrating because we have certain plans. We want to do certain things to the network and we already planned ahead to let go of certain aircraft before the A380 comes in, so (the delay) messes up those plans," he said.
Airbus was to have begun delivery of the planes to the airline in 2007 but postponed deliveries to late 2011. Recently, it further delayed delivery of the aircraft to the first half of 2012.
It has so far paid 329 million ringgit ($103 million) in compensation to Malaysia Airlines, but that is not a matter of satisfaction for the carrier.
"The board's position is quite clear. We cannot tolerate another postponement," said Malaysia Airlines chairman Munir Majid.
Azmil clarified that the airline was still in talks with Airbus over the matter. In case of cancellation, he said, the airline may look at the Boeing 777-300 as an option.
.webp)
