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Airbus CEO confident of meeting A380 jet delivery schedule

April 29, 2008, Paris, France – Airbus' chief executive said Tuesday that the European
plane maker is more confident that it will meet the planned delivery
schedule for its A380 superjumbo, which has been beset by past
delays.

Speaking at a company site in the United Arab Emirates, CEO
Thomas Enders acknowledged that reaching Airbus' goal of delivering
four A380s per month by 2010 won't be easy.

"It's very challenging, but we are confident more than ever that
we can do so,'' Enders said at the opening of an Airbus material and
logistics centre in Dubai, headquarters of A380 customer Emirates
Airlines. His comments were relayed by Airbus spokesman Stefan
Schaffrath.

Airbus is committed to handing over 13 A380s in 2008, 25 in 2009,
and 45 in 2010.

The plane maker has already been hit with penalties for late
delivery of the A380, which combined with spiralling development
costs wiped billions of dollars off profits.

Airbus has delivered the first four of six superjumbos destined
for Singapore Airlines. The European plane maker will have to
redesign cabins and electrical layouts for Emirates Airlines and
Qantas.

Enders said in October that increasing A380 production is Airbus'
greatest challenge for the coming years. The workload of making one
A380 is equivalent to eight of the single-aisle A320, Airbus' most
popular jet.

Also Tuesday, Airbus announced that Tunisair has ordered 16 new
jetliners from the European plane maker.

Airbus said in a statement that the "letter of acceptance'' from
the Tunisian carrier covers the purchase of 10 single-aisle A320s,
three wide-body A330s and three of the revamped, long-range A350
XWBs.

Airbus did not provide a value for the deal. Based on list
prices, the deal would be worth about US$1.94 billion, though
airlines often negotiate substantial discounts.

The announcement came on the second day of a state visit by
French President Nicolas Sarkozy to Tunisia.