Three New Orders Ideal for 2006 Says Airbus

The chief executive of European planemaker Airbus expects no more orders for the company’s A380 superjumbo in 2005 – but hopes for as many as three new customers next year.

“I presume that we will not have any additional A380 orders this year,” Gustav Humbert said on the fringes of an event at Berlin’s Tempelhof Airport. “If we would come up with two or three next year, it would be ideal.

“Three bulk orders in one year, I think this is good,” he said, referring to new customers already added this year – China Southern Airlines, India’s Kingfisher Airlines and freight carrier UPS.

Mr Humbert said Airbus, which is 80 per cent owned by European aerospace giant EADS and a fifth owned by the UK’s BAE Systems, had targeted one new customer each year until the aircraft enters service in 2006.

The 555-seat A380 will be the world’s largest passenger jetliner. Airbus has so far received 159 orders for the plane from 16 customers, including Singapore Airlines and Dubai-based Emirates.

Mr Humbert added that the first test flight of the second A380 to be built was “very successful”.

“Everything worked very well,” he said.

The first A380 to be built, which starred at the Paris Air Show in June, has completed more than 100 test flights. The plane will be a major source of work for West Midlands aerospace component manufacturers.

Meanwhile, around 300 jobs will be created as two aerospace companies expand.

They will be at Aerospace Wales St Athan in the Vale of Glamorgan, South Wales, over the next 18 months. The bulk of the jobs will be created by ATC Lasham, a UK maintenance, repair and overhaul operator. It will move into one of St Athan’s “high quality” hangars, the 100,000 square foot “Twin Peaks” building with the capacity to house up to four Boeing 737