Another blow for Airbus

From the Financial Times website:

Jumbo blow

By Paul Betts
Published: December 8 2006 02:00 | Last updated: December 8 2006 02:00

Lufthansa is obviously hedging its bets against further delays in the
Airbus A380 superjumbo programme by placing a bumper order for the new
stretched version of the old Boeing 747. Although the German carrier is
also buying some Airbus A340s and plans to order more A380s, it is
nonetheless a blow for Airbus.

For a blue-ribbon carrier such as Lufthansa - which has traditionally
been a launch customer for almost all Airbus programmes - to become the
first to order the passenger version of the new Boeing 747-8 has given
credibility to what was widely regarded as a stopgap programme to
extend the 37-year life of the 747.

This stretched version was never considered a serious threat for
Airbus, but had Boeing launched it earlier it could have been, given
the subsequent problems with the A380. If these problems persevere, the
stretched 747 in both its freight and passenger versions could continue
eating into the A380's market. In the old days, they used to say at
Airbus that if they designed an aircraft to Lufthansa standards, you
could be sure it would be a commercial flop. This was the case of the
A310, tailor-made for Lufthansa for routes such as Frankfurt-Cairo. It
turned out to be too small, lacking in range and no match for the rival
Boeing 767.

Airbus must be hoping the old Lufthansa joke will now apply to the
stretched 747. But don't count on it.

Lugthansa's order is for six A340-600's and 20 B747-8's.
With regards to the A380F's, FedEx cancelled their order for 10,
International Lease Finance converted their order of six freighters to
passenger versions. UPS is currently the only customer for the freighter
version, and they have reported that they are still studying their needs
and options.
Virgin has rescheduled their A380 orders for delivery in 2013. AirBus
paid Singapore $104 million in late fees last week. AirBus is pushing to
deliver the first A380 to Singapore by December 31, 2007.

AJ wrote:

From the Financial Times website:

Jumbo blow

By Paul Betts
Published: December 8 2006 02:00 | Last updated: December 8 2006 02:00

Lufthansa is obviously hedging its bets against further delays in the
Airbus A380 superjumbo programme by placing a bumper order for the new
stretched version of the old Boeing 747. Although the German carrier is
also buying some Airbus A340s and plans to order more A380s, it is
nonetheless a blow for Airbus.

For a blue-ribbon carrier such as Lufthansa - which has traditionally
been a launch customer for almost all Airbus programmes - to become the
first to order the passenger version of the new Boeing 747-8 has given
credibility to what was widely regarded as a stopgap programme to
extend the 37-year life of the 747.

This stretched version was never considered a serious threat for
Airbus, but had Boeing launched it earlier it could have been, given
the subsequent problems with the A380. If these problems persevere, the
stretched 747 in both its freight and passenger versions could continue
eating into the A380's market. In the old days, they used to say at
Airbus that if they designed an aircraft to Lufthansa standards, you
could be sure it would be a commercial flop. This was the case of the
A310, tailor-made for Lufthansa for routes such as Frankfurt-Cairo. It
turned out to be too small, lacking in range and no match for the rival
Boeing 767.

Airbus must be hoping the old Lufthansa joke will now apply to the
stretched 747. But don't count on it.