Airbus has high hopes for its A380

IT may be 18 months late, but Airbus believes its new A380 super jumbo is better prepared to serve the Singapore-Sydney route next week than any new aircraft before it.

Speaking at yesterday's handover ceremony of the first double-decker plane, Airbus chief commercial officer John Leahy said the launch delay of up to two years had been a double-edged sword.

He said it had allowed the company to perform extra testing on the aircraft, which would translate into fewer teething problems after the new plane started flying.

"Remember that this airplane was actually certified at the end of last year," he said.

"So it has its European certification and its FAA American certification. We could be flying our test airplanes around and charging for tickets on board.

"So we used that extra time we had due to the production ramp-up difficulties to make sure the systems were more mature than they otherwise might be with the introduction of a new aircraft."

The countdown to next week's historic first commercial flight of the A380 reached a milestone when the first aircraft, registered AS 9V-SKA, was handed over to Singapore Airlines yesterday.

The ground-breaking flight will take place between Sydney and Singapore on October 25 and will be followed quickly by the aircraft's entry into scheduled service on October 28.

The delivery ceremony, attended by hundreds of media representatives from around the world, allowed airlines and Airbus to breath a sigh of relief, despite insider trading allegations still hanging over Airbus executives.

The delay shook Airbus's corporate structure, savaged its profit forecasts and led to five chief executives in 25 months.

But Mr Leahy said the company still regretted wiring problems that would force it to essentially build up to 26 aircraft - including the first planes ordered by Singapore, Qantas and Emirates - by hand before it could introduce a quicker and more efficient process at the end of next year or the beginning of 2009.

Qantas has firm orders for 20 of the planes. Emirates, which has also said it will fly it to Australia, has orders and commitments for 55.

Other customers that could use the A380 on Australian routes include Malaysia Airlines, Thai Airways, Etihad and Virgin Atlantic. Most airlines operating long-haul services are opting for fewer than the 555 seats in three classes originally mooted by Airbus, offering first-class suites, roomy sleeper seats and wider economy seats