Emirates balks at A380 order until superjumbo’s fate is clear

Emirates, the biggest operator of the Airbus A380 superjumbo, said it’s reluctant to place a further order for the double-decker jet until the future of the slow-selling model becomes clear. With Airbus mulling production cuts if no new deals are secured this year, Emirates needs reassurances about the planemaker’s plans for the A380 as much as it does additional cost savings, Tim Clark, its president, said Wednesday. “I’m more concerned about continuity of production,” Clark said. “If they came up with what we want at the right price, knowing that we’ll need to retire aircraft fairly soon we would probably take some more. But…I don’t want to be left with aeroplanes that are headed for obsolescence.” Airbus this week formalised plans to fit the A380 with fuel-saving winglets to help boost efficiency by as much 4. <br/>