Airbus would have to deliver another six A380s this month to meet its revised 2009 target of 13 aircraft, and overtake the dozen it delivered last year.

The airframer, which has just released its order book data for November, delivered seven of the type in the first 11 months of this year.

Emirates, which took one in April, is set to introduce two more A380s during December, which it will deploy on services to Seoul and Paris.

The two remaining deliveries to Qantas scheduled for this year - the airline's fifth and sixth A380s - were pushed back to December.

Singapore Airlines and Air France are to take another one and two A380s respectively by 31 March 2010.

Air France Airbus A380
 © H Gousse/Airbus

Air France, which opened flights to New York with its first A380 last month, is to begin using the type on the Johannesburg route from 3 February 2010.

But while the airline had intended to use the A380 to Dubai from 18 January, its schedule for the route does not list the type.

Airbus revised downwards the 2009 delivery target for A380s four times in the 18 months since May last year, the result of production problems and customer deferrals.

Last year the airframer delivered five A380s to Singapore Airlines, four to Emirates and three to Qantas.

Source: Air Transport Intelligence news