Not all A380s on order will be built, says Airbus

[TOULOUSE] Airbus Group NV said that it's closely monitoring the financial health of customers for the flagship A380 and acknowledged that not all superjumbos on order will get built after it pulled a purchase accord with a Japanese airline.

"Without referring to any specific airline, I can assure you that we have cases where airlines are in the order backlog but not in the production plan," chief executive officer Tom Enders said on Wednesday on a call to discuss second-quarter earnings. "We are watching the situation carefully, and know about the strengths and weaknesses of customers."

Mr Enders sought to reassure investors who question the robustness of the A380 programme, which hasn't picked up a new airline customer in two years and drew a blank at last month's Farnborough Air show. Airbus acted "proactively" in cancelling the order for six double-deckers with Japan's Skymark Airlines Inc, and the manufacturer is confident it can place the already-built planes with another customer, Mr Enders said.