Airbus faces a mounting crisis after the world's biggest leasing company threatened to axe orders worth up to $3 billion for the A380 superjumbo, a move that could trigger an exodus of customers.
International Lease Finance Corporation (ILFC) said it was "not happy'' about fresh delays in the delivery of the $300 million double-decker and believed it now had a legal case to scrap its 10 orders.
"We are considering cancelling all or some of our A380 order,'' said the group's chief executive, Steven Udvar-Hazy.
ILFC, based in California, has the fourth-biggest order for the A380 after Emirates, Lufthansa and Air France.
The blow comes days after Airbus stunned investors with a $2 billion profit warning and an admission of delays dragging on until 2010.
In Paris, there was continued fall-out yesterday from last week's crash in the share price of EADS, which owns 80% of Airbus.
The French prime minister Dominique de Villepin erupted in fury in the French parliament after Socialist deputies called for the head of 'Monsieur Airbus' and co-chief of EADS, Noël Forgeard, a protégé of the ruling elite.
"I denounce your cowardice,'' he screamed at the socialist leader, François Hollande.
M Forgeard is under investigation by French regulators for possible insider trading after cashing in stock options for himself and his family for $6.7 milion last March, shortly before the A380 problems came to light.
His position has become untenable after his German counterpart, EADS co-chief Thomas Enders, said he had chosen not to sell his stock. "Of course it would have been lucrative to exercise the options in March but I decided it wouldn't be opportune to do so,'' he said. Yesterday's warning from ILFC confirms the worst fears of Airbus executives that customers will exploit the legal loopholes caused by the delays to pull out of a project already losing appeal due to higher oil prices.
Airbus has racked up just 159 orders for the A380 so far, with almost no new takers since crude prices began to surge. The company needs at least 250 sales to cover the $11 billion launch costs.
Boeing's new 787 Dreamliner, a super-light design of carbon composites, will use far less fuel.
International Lease Finance Corporation
ILFC is the king-maker of global aviation, a $35 billion empire with a fleet of 770 aircraft
British Airways, Air France, Lufthansa and Air Canada all lease jets from the Californian group but low-cost carriers make up its core business. ILFC dominates the booming Chinese airline market
Copyright 2005 LexisNexis, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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