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SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Australian Qantas Airways Ltd. announced on Thursday the official cancellation of a long-standing order for eight super-type Airbus SE A380 aircraft.
This decision, which will eliminate the order placed in 2006 Airbus order book, comes as new doubts have been expressed about the future of the four-engine A380.
The United Arab Emirates is investigating the possibility of placing some orders for the superjumbo to a smaller A350, which has prompted Airbus to look closely at the shutdown of the A380's plants earlier than planned, people familiar with the A380 have told Reuters case.
A spokesman for Qantas said the airline had formalized its decision to cancel the order of eight A380s as a result of discussions with Airbus.
"These planes are no longer part of the company's fleet and network plans for some time," Qantas spokesman said.
Qantas has 12 A380s in its fleet and the spokesman has announced plans to redevelop the cabins from mid-year, the jets having to continue flying with the company "in the future".
An Airbus spokesman said the manufacturer had accepted the "contract amendment" announced by Qantas.
"This change will be reflected in our order and delivery tables at the end of January," said Airbus spokesman.
Qantas spokesman declined to comment on the terms of the cancellation.
It comes after another long-considered dubious order for 10 Hong Kong Airlines A380s was removed last month from Airbus orders and deliveries tables at the end of December at the end negotiations.
Willie Walsh, CEO of IAG, the parent company of British Airways, said last week that Airbus should lower the price of the A380 if it wanted to sell more.
The list price of the A380 is $ 445.6 million, but airlines generally benefit from substantial discounts from manufacturers.
Reportage of Jamie Freed; Edited by Muralikumar Anantharaman
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