Air France Stomps Feet, Want Its A380 First

Apparently Air France is a bit put off by the whole A380 delay thing and is "demanding" that it be the first European airline, ahead of Lufthansa, to receive the new aircraft. According to an article on Hemscott the delays mean that the schedule will not support a delivery for each airline in time for the Olympics in Beijing. So Air France is playing the home field advantage trump card...my bet is they will get their wish.

Lufthansa Compensates for Late A380

Lufthansa announced yesterday that they are placing an order for 5 A330 to "compensate for the delayed entry into service of the A380,". To me this lends credence to the persistant rumor that additional A380 delays are going to be announced after EADS completes its audit. The A330 will be delivered in 2007 and 2008 to service routes that Lufthansa has planned to handle with the A380.