EADS admits that it still has several Airbus A380 slots open for 2015, the year in which it hopes to achieve break-even on production for the type.
Airbus is trying to fill 30 slots for 2015 and EADS declines to state how many are still open.
But chief financial officer Harald Wilhelm says there are still "some to go", adding: "It's certainly single-digit, that's for sure."
He says the break-even in 2015 is a "key objective" for EADS but points out that the company has already lowered the break-even point from 35 aircraft to 30.
"That's not a walk in the park," says Wilhelm, adding that EADS would be "cautious" about suggesting there was potential to reduce this level further.
Wilhelm says that, while there has been "some reshuffling" among customers, the slots have remained open, rather than resulted from deferrals.
He says the wing-bracket cracking problem "slowed down commercial momentum" last year. "We could not, unfortunately, recover from that so far," he says.
But he says the Airbus commercial team is "fully engaged" in securing orders for the type.
"We're fully conscious of [the shortfall] and trying to attract the interest of customers for 2015 slots," he says.
"But that doesn't mean we're giving them away for free, or at unreasonable pricing or margin levels."
Source: Air Transport Intelligence news
