Airbus superjumbo steals the show in Paris LE BOURGET, France (Reuters) =97 Lingering doubts about the much-hyped A380= =20 superjumbo jet are being laid to rest at this week's Paris Air Show as=20 airlines line up to order the 555-seat giant being developed by European=20 plane maker Airbus. Korean Air signed a memorandum of understanding with=20 Airbus on Wednesday to acquire up to eight A380s. Earlier in the week,=20 Emirates airline announced a $12.5 billion order for 41 Airbus planes,=20 including 21 of the double-decker jets With 22 A380s already on order from= =20 Airbus and two set to be leased from top lessor ILFC, Emirates' fleet is=20 expected to include 45 of the massive planes, which carry a sticker price=20 of $275 million each and are due to begin flying with airlines in 2006.=20 Airbus Commercial Director John Leahy said that if new airlines want the=20 A380, they would have to wait until the second half of 2008, as delivery=20 slots for 2006 and 2007 had been filled. "I think you have to call the=20 programme a success now," said Nick Cunningham, an aerospace analyst at=20 Citigroup Smith Barney. "The only issue remaining is execution =97 whether= =20 they can deliver on timing and performance =97 and their track record on= that=20 is very good." When Airbus launched the $12 billion project in December=20 2000 with about 50 airline commitments, questions abounded over its ability= =20 to pull off the programme and the size of the discounts Airbus had offered= =20 launch customers. There were also doubts about the future of such a big=20 plane if, as rival Boeing Co predicted, air traffic shifted towards routes= =20 between smaller airports rather than big hubs. Logistics presented a=20 further obstacle. How would Airbus get the huge ready-built sections of the= =20 A380 to its headquarters in Toulouse, France from factories in Britain and= =20 Germany? MANY QUESTIONS ANSWERED Many, if not all, of these questions have now been answered, analysts say.= =20 As Airbus keeps the details of its plane contracts a closely-guarded=20 secret, some remain concerned about the A380's profit margins. But the jet= =20 maker, which is 80-percent owned by French-German aerospace firm EADS, said= =20 this week it was on track to meet its target for an internal rate of return= =20 of 20 percent, and believed it could break even on the project if it sells= =20 250 superjumbos over the next 20 years. Its current firm order book for the= =20 plane stands at 116 and that total would rise to 129 once the Korean order= =20 comes through and pending contracts are signed with Malaysia Airline System= =20 and Qatar Airways. Airbus has settled on a dual sea-to-road delivery method= =20 for the A380's wings and fuselage. It now has 6,000 full-time engineers=20 working on the project, while 60 percent of the 40,000 detailed drawings=20 needed for the final blueprint are complete. "The A380 is a reality,"=20 Airbus Chief Executive Noel Forgeard told reporters earlier this week. "The= =20 events of September 11th and the recent problems in the airline industry=20 have not diminished the appetite for this plane." Customers that have=20 placed firm orders for the A380 now include Air France, Emirates, Fedex,=20 ILFC, Lufthansa, Qantas, Singapore Airlines and Virgin Atlantic. MORE CUSTOMERS SEEN Airbus said this week it expected a major U.S. airline and top Japanese=20 carriers to order the plane before 2006. Chinese operators are expected to= =20 take on A380s via orders or leases before the Olympic Games take place in=20 the country in 2008. Whether airlines opt for the lavish interiors that=20 Airbus has trumpeted in its advertisements for the planes remains unclear.= =20 Leahy said on Wednesday that customers were interested in putting bars,=20 lounges, duty-free shops and perhaps casinos and gyms on board. But=20 Emirates made clear earlier this week that its planes would be full of=20 seats instead. "There won't be gymnasiums and bars," Emirates spokesman=20 David Wilson said. "These will be planes to carry passengers, not casinos." *************************************************** The owner of Roger's Trinbago Site/TnTisland.com Roj (Roger James) escape email mailto:ejames@xxxxxxxxx Trinbago site: www.tntisland.com Carib Brass Ctn site www.tntisland.com/caribbeanbrassconnection/ Steel Expressions www.mts.net/~ejames/se/ Mas Site: www.tntisland.com/tntrecords/mas2003/ Site of the Week: http://www.carib-link.net/naparima/naps.html TnT Webdirectory: http://search.co.tt *********************************************************