Airbus Expects Big Delays for A380

"We have received information from Airbus that we're going to receive the first A380 in summer 2009," said Lufthansa spokeswoman Stefanie Stotz. "That's one year later than anticipated up to now."

EADS declined to confirm or deny that its board was scheduled to discuss a restructuring plan for Airbus and a new delivery timetable for its troubled A380, which was already about a year behind schedule when the latest production problems were disclosed.

Dubai-based Emirates also said Tuesday it had received notice that its A380s will be delayed by 10 more months.

"Emirates has been advised by Airbus of a further 10 month delay to its A380 program, which means that our first aircraft will now arrive in August 2008," Emirates CEO Tim Clark said in a statement.

The new setback is a "very serious issue for Emirates," Clark said, adding that the airline is now reviewing all its options.

The first delivery to Emirates — originally scheduled this month — will now be almost two years late. Stotz said Lufthansa now expects delivery between May and September 2009, a similar delay compared with the original delivery target of late 2007.

But Lufthansa appeared to rule out order cancelations.

"We're still convinced that the A380 is a success story and the A380 is a growth aircraft," Stotz said. "As we want to grow, we still believe this is the aircraft we need, especially when capacities and traffic rights are limited."

In recent days, Airbus has been informing A380 customers of the latest setbacks as it tries to gauge the likely compensation bill. EADS had confirmed last month that the plane would be delayed, without giving details.