Virgin Atlantic has decided to reject a revised offer from Airbus for the delivery of its first batch of A340-600s due next year. The move looks to have left the manufacturer searching for a new launch operator for the Rolls-Royce Trent 500-powered widebody to replace Virgin, which was due to receive the first aircraft in mid-2002.
Virgin holds firm orders for 10 A340-600s, the first four of which were due to be delivered next year, making the airline the type's launch operator. However, since the US attacks in September, the carrier has been in talks with Airbus about the delivery schedule, as it has sought to delay the introduction of the 380-seaters (Flight International, 9 -15 October, 2001).
In an effort to encourage Virgin to take delivery of the -600s, which are already in an advanced stage of build, Airbus is understood to have tabled a revised offer, including a finance package and the return of some of the airline's 10 A340-300s ahead of their scheduled lease termination. But this pitch has failed to persuade the carrier, which is 49% owned by Singapore Airlines (SIA), to take the aircraft as planned.
Virgin declines to comment on the status of the schedule, saying only that "we have not terminated discussions with Airbus."
The A340-500/600 programme has suffered a serious of blows in recent months, largely as a result of the 11 September attacks. SIA has recently negotiated a nine-month delay of its A340-500 deliveries to late 2003, while the orders held by Swissair/Flightlease, another 2002 customer for the -600, have been cancelled.
Cathay Pacific, which has three A340-600s on lease order from International Lease Finance due from September, now looks set to become the initial operator of the type. The airline is thought to be unhappy about this, with sources saying that if it wanted to be a launch operator it would have signed up as launch customer.
Source: Flight International
