Airbus to freeze development of A380 cargo version as UPS cancels order – report

PARIS (AFX) – Airbus is to freeze the development of a cargo version of its A380 plane after UPS decided to cancel the only remaining order for the model, Les Echos reported without citing sources.
According to the French daily, UPS may announce next week the cancellation of its order for ten A380 cargo planes.
After cancellations by Fedex and ILFC, due to delays in the A380 programme, UPS’ decision to withdraw its order means that Airbus will have to suspend the project.
Such a postponement would let Airbus free up 1 bln eur in development costs and focus on the passenger version of the A380.
Les Echos said UPS decided some time ago to cancel its order but Airbus asked it to delay the announcement in order to protect a runway extension project in Hamburg, necessary for the future development of the A380-cargo.
It quoted a UPS spokesman as saying that ‘at the moment we are talking,’ the company was still weighing its options regarding the A380 order.
The Hamburg runway project is being challenged by local associations, and a ruling is due from a German court today.
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