NICHOLAS IONIDES / SINGAPORE
Sources say production delays are partly due to manufacturer's ambitious timetable
Deliveries of Cathay Pacific Airways' Airbus A340-600s have been delayed by two months as a result of production hold-ups and apparent specification changes requested by the airline.
The three aircraft are being leased from International Lease Finance (ILFC) and the first was originally due for delivery in September. Cathay confirms that deliveries have slipped and says the new schedule calls for aircraft to arrive in November and December this year, and March next year.
Cathay will not comment on the reasons for the slip, but industry sources say it is due in part to production delays at Airbus, as a result of its ambitious timetable between certification of the new type and handover. Virgin Atlantic Airways recently put the first A340-600 into service, but deliveries to the launch customer have been subject to delays of around a month.
Airbus has separately been forced to delay deliveries of the smaller, longer-range A340-500 to launch customer Air Canada by around four months, until March next year, as a result of post-certification changes (Flight International, 13-19 August).
In Cathay's case, A340-600 delivery delays have also been caused by specification changes requested by the airline, suggest the sources, who add that the carrier is not unhappy about the delayed delivery schedule. Airbus says only that deliveries of Cathay's first A340-600s will be made "towards the end of the year".
Cathay had been intending to use the new A340s to launch non-stop routes from its Hong Kong base to New York and possibly Chicago. The carrier now says that no firm decision has been taken on when the non-stop services will begin.
Source: Flight International
