Aviation News Item: 05189

16th Feb 2010

Source: ubmaviationnews.com

Airbus has fallen significantly behind schedule for the A350 XWB, according to the Suddeutsche Zeitung. Referring to sources within EADS and external supplier companies, the German daily reported that time buffers, which had been built into the programme schedule to account for unforeseen issues, had already been used up and that a number of small hold-ups has created a six month delay. The first aircraft would therefore be delivered in late 2013 at the earliest. More pessimistic voices suggested the programme could be delayed up to two years and generate "high" additional costs due to possible further challenges with the composite airframe. It has been suggested that one of the problems involved supplier companies waiting months for detailed engineering data from Airbus.

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