Airbus faces A330 delivery delays

TOULOUSE: Airbus faces a logjam of undelivered A330 jets worth well over $1 billion for airlines affiliated to China’s debt-laden HNA Group following a stand-off over late payments, according to industry sources and a Reuters examination of parked aircraft.

Companies belonging to the troubled Chinese aviation-to-finance conglomerate have delayed payments for several months, leading Airbus to withdraw deliveries rather than step in to finance the aircraft itself, the sources told Reuters.

“After six months of talks, Airbus took the decision to withdraw the planes as it does not want to play the financier,” said a person familiar with the discussions on Wednesday.

However, another person involved in the matter cautioned: “It is in the process of being resolved”.

Airbus and HNA had no immediate comment.

The cluster of undelivered A330 aircraft came to light on the sidelines of a ceremony on Wednesday to introduce Airbus’s smallest new jet.—Reuters

Published in Dawn, July 12th, 2018