Incident on Qantas A380 will affect deliveries: Airbus boss

An engine fault that led to a fire on a Qantas A380 and forced it into an emergency landing will affect deliveries of the super jumbo, Airbus chairman and chief executive Thomas Enders said on Friday.

“I do expect that this event ... will impact deliveries, especially in 2011,” because of checks on and recommended replacements to some engines, he told journalists by telephone, without giving a specific figure.

Nevertheless “the reputation of this aircraft will remain untarnished and will even increase in the years ahead,” he said.

The European Aviation Safety Agency ordered airlines to carry out new inspections of the affected Rolls-Royce engines on the world’s biggest passenger jet following the November 4 fire.

The Australian carrier had to ground its entire fleet of A380s after the mid-air explosion which forced the plane to make an emergency landing in Singapore. No one was injured in the incident.

The agency’s instructions were considered as “interim” and further “mandatory” actions might be considered after results of an ongoing investigation are completed.

Rolls-Royce said yesterday “the failure was confined to a specific component in the turbine area of the engine. This caused an oil fire.”