GAO, Airbus Clash Over A380 Upgrade Costs For Airports By Stephen Trimble/AviationNow.com 04-Mar-2002 5:01 PM U.S. EST Airbus and the General Accounting Office [GAO] are locked in a $1.6 billion disagreement over the estimated costs of preparing the first 14 U.S. airports for the A380. A GAO report released Monday projects that 14 airports likely to service Airbus superjumbo jet by 2010 must pay nearly $2.1 billion to upgrade infrastructure, such as runways, taxiways and terminals. The A380, due to enter service in 2006, boasts a wingspan 48-feet wider than rival Boeing's 747 and a capacity to haul about 150 more passengers. The GAO report included a stinging rebuttal from Airbus Deputy VP Didier Puyplat, who argued airports must pay only about $520 million to complete A380-related improvements. "It appears that these costs are not the result of detailed analysis," Puyplat wrote to GAO, "but rather reflect extremely rough and inconsistent estimating." A key dispute involves GAO's $1.2 billion price tag for upgrading Los Angeles International Airport, an estimate provided directly by LAX officials. Airbus claims the true cost is $263 million - a figure gleaned mostly by dismissing 90% of the cost for a $906 million runway expansion project as unrelated to the A380. In addition, Airbus said most infrastructure upgrades identified in the GAO report reflect each airport's natural growth and should not be tied to the A380. Indeed, GAO acknowledged most airports plan to apply for modifications to the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration's design standards in order to accept A380s. But some standards aren't negotiable, GAO said, citing, as an example, maximum weights for taxiway bridges. GAO compiled the report from surveys sent to 23 airports in July. Of those, 22 airports responded and 14 reported being likely to service A380s by 2010. Here's how much each expects to pay for infrastructure improvements, as reported by the GAO: Los Angeles, $1.2 billion; O'Hare (Chicago), $232 million; John F. Kennedy (New York), $109 million; Ted Stevens Anchorage, $106 million; San Francisco, $76 million; Dallas/Fort Worth, $73 million; Indianapolis, $66 million; Washington Dulles, $64 million; Memphis, $36 million; Hartsfield Atlanta, $26 million; George Bush (Houston), $23 million; Orlando, $18.8 million; Miami $18.3 million; Denver, $16 million. Roger & Amanda