A380 vingefix - Hugely Expensive..

Airbus A380 Wing Fix Can Ground Aircraft for Up to 8 Weeks

June 11 (Bloomberg) -- Airbus SAS said airlines flying the A380 double decker will need to ground their planes for as long as eight weeks when the wings undergo permanent repair work that is more complex than an interim fix being done now.

Airbus Chief Operating Officer John Leahy, speaking in Beijing at the annual general meeting of the International Air Transport Association, confirmed the time frame, after Emirates President Tim Clark said the final fix can take eight weeks.

"Of course we are not happy, but we have to live with it," Clark said in the interview today in Beijing. "There was an error in design and specification of metals and plastic composite to the aircraft. They are making detailed studies of what happened and what they have to do."

The wing-crack debacle has cost Airbus parent European Aeronautic, Defence and Space co. more than 250 million euros ($315 million) in repair and service costs, and the manufacturer has said the issue will occupy the company for years. Emirates is the biggest A380 customer, having ordered 90 aircraft in total. The company has already taken delivery of 21 of the double-decker planes. It has 14 more scheduled for delivery that will require the eight-week removal from service.

EADS rose as much as 3 percent, or 81 cents, to 27.69 euros, and traded at 27.08 euros as of 12:06 p.m. in Paris, as European equity markets advanced.

Delivered With Defect

The cracks are the result of new technologies mixed with insufficient design controls. Airbus engineers have determined an altered design for the wing that would use different materials. Once safety authorities have approved the change, Airbus can alter manufacturing of the wings in Broughton, Wales, allowing aircraft coming off the production line by January 2014 to be free of the defect.

Planes delivered from now until the beginning of 2014 still contain the defect, and require both short-term fixes if cracks develop, as well as the permanent repair that can take eight weeks per plane.

Airlines taking delivery before 2014 will have the choice between an immediate, permanent fix once the planes come off production lines, or repairs in stages during required maintenance checks after about two and four years, Leahy said.

The interim repairs that come first are supposed to take about six days, according to Airbus. Clark said some of his planes were out of service for 42 days to get the fix.