The chief executive of Airbus has ordered an internal investigation and admitted the aeroplane manufacturer "made a mistake" after the discovery of cracks on the wings of the A380 superjumbo fleet.
Last week European safety regulators ordered inspections of the entire fleet of A380 superjumbos after initial checks revealed cracks inside the wings Tom Enders said it would cost Airbus "quite some money" to repair the fault but would not confirm the amount.
Last week European safety regulators ordered inspections of the entire fleet of A380 superjumbos after initial checks revealed cracks inside the wings.
The faults were first spotted during inspections last year of the Qantas plane that suffered an engine blow–out in 2010.
Airbus says the cracks are a manufacturing issue but insists the aircraft is still safe to fly.
The wings for the A380 are made at the company's British factory in Broughton, Wales.
"We have a thorough investigation underway on how we could make these mistakes in the first place and to eradicate the sources of the mistakes," Mr Enders said at the Singapore Airshow yesterday.
"Are we learning from this? Absolutely. We are taking lessons from the A380 programme for the A350 programme.
"We made a mistake here and we are repairing it as quickly as possible."
Despite the fault, Mr Enders said Airbus still plans to accelerate production of the A380 this year.
The planemaker delivered 26 superjumbos last year but aims to hand over about 30 in 2012 by increasing the production rate from two per month to three.
There are 68 A380s in service around the world so far with airlines including Qantas, Singapore Airlines and Lufthansa. Virgin Atlantic and British Airways have ordered the aircraft.
The European Aviation Safety Agency has said it is "working closely" with Airbus to ensure the "safe operations" of the A380, and that a long-term fix should be revealed by the summer.
"Are we learning from this? Absolutely. We are taking lessons from the A380 programme for the A350 programme.
"We made a mistake here and we are repairing it as quickly as possible."
Despite the fault, Mr Enders said Airbus still plans to accelerate production of the A380 this year.
The planemaker delivered 26 superjumbos last year but aims to hand over about 30 in 2012 by increasing the production rate from two per month to three.
There are 68 A380s in service around the world so far with airlines including Qantas, Singapore Airlines and Lufthansa. Virgin Atlantic and British Airways have ordered the aircraft.
The European Aviation Safety Agency has said it is "working closely" with Airbus to ensure the "safe operations" of the A380, and that a long-term fix should be revealed by the summer.
source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/transport/9084890/Airbus-boss-orders-internal-inquiry-over-A380-cracks.html
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