Plans for German A380 delivery centre under threat as extension dispute escalates
Airbus has raised the stakes in its campaign to clear the way for a runway extension at its Hamburg Finkenwerder plant by threatening to abandon plans to deliver A380s from Germany.
The Hamburg Finkenwerder plant was due to begin delivering A380-800s destined for European and Middle East customers in the second half of 2006, but requires a 589m (1,930ft) extension to handle higher-weight versions, starting with the A380-800 Freighter in 2008. After a Hamburg court threw out a legal effort for the compulsory purchase of private land for the extension earlier this year, Airbus had hoped that owners would agree to sell at higher values. However, three property owners have refused to sell as "a matter of principle" and the City of Hamburg - which owns the Finkenwerder site - is starting a completely new legal process to gain a compulsory purchase order.
"In the previous action we could not use any projections in the arguments - such as our 20-year demand forecast for 350 freighters or the planned family of heavier A380 models," says Airbus. Instead, the need for the extension was based purely on the need to deliver the two A380 freighters on order for Emirates (the only other freighter customer is FedEx Express, but its A380s will be delivered from Toulouse), which was not a strong enough economic argument for the compulsory purchase to succeed.
Airbus now says that it will postpone the €100 million ($130 million) investment in the Hamburg delivery centre and associated infrastructure pending the court decision, and will handle all A380 deliveries from the Toulouse centre until mid-2007 - pending a final decision on the extension by mid-2006. In reality, a decision is hoped for by the end of next year.
If the extension is not cleared, then the Hamburg delivery centre plan will be dropped and Toulouse expanded to handle all customers. "We either build a centre in Hamburg for the whole A380 range or we don't do it at all," says Airbus.
Meanwhile, the manufacturer says there will be a hiatus in assembly of A380s in Toulouse to enable modifications and improvements to be implemented on components at the partner and supplier plants. Assembly of the fourth A380 is under way, but work on the fifth will not start until late January.
MAX KINGSLEY-JONES / LONDON
Source: Flight International
