Air France chiede compensazioni per problemi all'A380
Air France seeking compensation for A380 issues
By
Victoria Moores | October 31, 2012
Air France A380. By Rob Finlayson
Air France (AF) is pursuing Airbus for lost revenuesfollowing a number of technical issues with its Airbus A380 fleet, including those related to wing cracks.
“We are in negotiations with Airbus about compensation for aircraft being taken out of service, in order to partly offset lost revenues,” an AF spokesman said. “The talks are still underway, but the subject is all the more complex given that it concerns all operators.”
He declined to comment on the amount of compensation AF is seeking or the amount of aircraft ground time caused by the problems.
The compensation claim relates to ground time caused by micro-cracks on the A380’s wings (
ATW Daily News, Oct. 1) and some “minor operational incidents” with the type’s Engine Alliance GP7000 engines, he said.
Airbus has come up with an upgrade program to remedy the wing cracks, but this needs to be approved and the schedule for the work has “not yet been defined,” the spokesman said.
AF has received eight of the 12 560-seat A380s it has on order and its fleet has accrued 55,000 flight hours since 2009. A further two A380s will arrive by summer 2014, but the final pair have been postponed under AF’s restructuring plan.
“The delays to the delivery schedule mean we have not yet reached our cruising stage in terms of performance, due to the technical problems, delivery schedule delays and problems with the micro cracks,” the spokesman said.
http://atwonline.com/airline-finance-data/news/air-france-seeking-compensation-a380-issues-1031