Airbus A380 Delayed Again

"Continuing industrialization challenges with the wiring of production aircraft have been identified and are being tackled," Airbus parent company EADS said in a statement Thursday. "Consequently, from what is known today, there will be further delays."

There have been repeated reports that Airbus underestimated the complexity of adapting the wiring in the A380 to suit the specific and different requirements of airlines which have ordered the aircraft.

The wiring problems are believed to concern in-flight entertainment systems in particular.

The company said it had "not finalized the schedule of deliveries or the financial impact of any delays" but it said it would provide more information within four weeks.

One symbolic delivery expected this year

EADS had previously said a definite delivery schedule would be available by the end of September. A newspaper report on Wednesday suggested that the company would announce new delays of up to six months.

With capacity for 555 people in three classes or over 800 in economy class, the Airbus A380 is to become the world's largest passenger aircraft.

It is expected that the first plane, which will cost around $300 million (236.3 million euros), will be delivered to Singapore Airlines by the end of the year in an effort to spare the aerospace group's image.

EADS, which owns 80 percent of Airbus, had already announced in June that deliveries of the A380 would be delayed by at least a year because of production setbacks.

Airbus had said that this would mean that only nine planes would be delivered next year instead of 25, as previously expected.

Under new management since June

These revelations, coupled with a warning that EADS could suffer a two-billion-euro decline in operational earnings by 2010, caused a crisis for EADS and Airbus involving management changes and a loss of credibility in financial markets.

In June, analysts questioned the quality of the company's internal and external communications, and said that the high reputation built up by Airbus as a manager of complex and highly technical projects had suffered.

The new management team is carrying out an audit of the production and delivery timetable situation.

The A380 has been sold to 16 airline companies worldwide including Singapore Airlines, Air France, Dubai-based Emirates, Malaysia Airlines and Australia's Qantas.

EADS shares were down 2.4 percent at 22.25 euros shortly after the market opened Thursday.