The future of the world's largest airliner, the A380, are at risk again with negotiations between Emirates and the aircraft's manufacturer Airbus reaching an 'impasse' according Bloomberg News.
In January it looked highly likely production of the A380s would end when Airbus' chief salesperson John Leahy told media its future entirely depended on Emirates ordering more of the aircraft.
Until that statement, Airbus had never deviated from the company message that the A380 programme was successful and at no risk of being shut down.
That statement changed everything, and raised doubt on the aircraft's future.
Airbus was expecting a massive order for the A380 at the Dubai Airshow in November last year, but instead Emirates announced a NZ$25 billion-dollar deal for competitor Boeing's Dreamliner aircraft.
Emirates then threw a lifeline to Airbus' A380 project by announcing intentions to purchase as many as 36 of the aircraft, with a possible cost of US$16 billion.
At the time, Airbus said the A380's future lay with Emirates, saying it would have "no choice" but to close production if the Emirates deal fell through.
Current negotiations have stalled as Emirates entered discussions with engine manufacturer Rolls-Royce over the performance of the A380's engines, with the airline claiming the engines on its current fleet were underperforming and it wants improvements before ordering more.
It says Rolls-Royce has not met the fuel efficiency levels it guaranteed when it won the contract back in 2015.
The issues with Emirates come after what has been a difficult two years for Rolls-Royce.
The engine manufacturer is suffering losses estimated to be in the billions as it deals with the global Dreamliner engine issue.
Airbus shares fell as much as 1.8 percent after the Bloomberg report.
Newshub.
