Delivery of the second Emirates Airbus A380 has been delayed at least several weeks due to supplier issues with interior outfitting, delaying introduction of the first daily A380 service to New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport.
According to sources in both Dubai and Hamburg, delivery has been delayed until 20 October "at the earliest."
The second 489-seat A380, MSN013, was intended for delivery in September for introduction on the airline's direct Dubai-New York (JFK) service on 1 October. The aircraft was to replace a Boeing 777-300ER on the route to establish the first daily A380 service to the United States.
Neither Airbus nor Emirates denied the potential delivery delay.
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"There may be a delay," says an US based Emirates spokesperson. "We are awaiting further details from Dubai."
Per company policy, Airbus declined to discuss delivery schedules of its aircraft, though the European airframer underscored it was still on track to have 12 A380s delivered before the close of 2008. Five A380s have been delivered this year.
Airbus revised its A380 delivery targets in May from 13 in 2008, citing a slow transition of staff from Wave 1 hand-wired aircraft to Wave 2 aircraft with production wiring.
The Emirates website still shows the A380 operating the 13hr daily route beginning 1 October. The route is currently operated by the carrier's first A380 (A6-EDA) with 491-seats and a Boeing 777-300ER configured with 354 or 358 seats. With the delay of entry into service of the second A380, Emirates will likely be required to boost capacity to compensate for the roughly 135-seat gap between the 777-300ER and the A380.
According to a source at the Dubai based airline, daily service is now potentially slated to commence on 26 October, the same day as Qatar Airways, Emirates' regional competitor, is set to begin its daily non-stop JFK service from Doha using a 777-300ER.
Source: Air Transport Intelligence news
