Korean Air Takes Delivery Of 6th A380

Yesterday (Monday) Airbus delivered the 6th A380 to Korean Air (MSN096 now registered HL7619) from Toulouse, 93rd A380 in service overall. 

4 more deliveries should follow this month, 3 for Emirates (MSN112 MSN108 and MSN111) and one for Thai Airways (MSN100).

Excluding the non-allocated MSN numbers, there are just 2 MSN below 100 not yet delivered:

MSN094 5th for Malaysia Airlines (rolled out in XFW)

MSN095 1st for British Airways (outfitting in XFW)

AIRBUS A380 ORDER ON THE HORIZON

Rumours doing the rounds suggest that the order may come from Turkish Airlines or Cathay Pacific if its a new airline or Emirates if its a top up order.......only time will tell watch this space

Airbus is working on finalizing another “significant order” for the Airbus A380 soon, Airbus Chief Operating Officer Customers John Leahy tells Aviation Week. Leahy is hopeful a memorandum of understanding (MOU) can be signed before the end of the year with the commitment turned into a firm order in 2013. Leahy declined to identify the customer and the exact number of aircraft under discussion.

Airbus is far short of its own sales target of 30 A380s in 2012. So far, it has recorded only a firm order for four aircraft from Russian airline Transaero. Leahy says, however, that an MOU for five aircraft signed by Singapore Airlines earlier this year will still appear in the firm 2012 order book, with the two sides working on the last contract details.

Leahy expects demand for the A380 to pick up in 2013 and “certainly” in 2014, once the large legacy carriers leave the current downturn behind them. “How else are we going to double RPKs in the next 15 years?” Leahy asks, other than by using larger aircraft. “The future is still with the A380.”

Airbus has a backlog of 165 A380s from 19 airlines and one VIP customer. Production is sold out until the end of 2015, when the first two open slots are available.