A few days after Emirates' President Tim Clark said its Airbus A380 deliveries next year are due to be hit by another round of delays, Airbus' top executive said the delays will not be major.

"The A380 programme is a complex one. We are having a little more difficulty in the A380 programme than we anticipated. However, there will not be any large delays to Emirates delivery schedule for the superjumbo. We are talking about the normal industrial flow of airplanes shifting forward and back by a few weeks," John Leahy, Airbus Chief Operating Officer, Customers, told Emirates Business. Asked if Emirates, the largest customer for the superjumbo with 58 aircraft on order, was in talks with Airbus to seek compensation for the fresh delay, Leahy said: "The compensation to Emirates would depend on how long the delay is."

Emirates' Clark recently said the airline will see delays in the delivery schedule of A380s ordered for mid-2010, hitting its route expansion plans.

Commenting on Emirates' intention to buy additional planes from Airbus, including the A380s and the A330s, Leahy said: "We never comment on discussions with airlines," without denying the probability.

Asked if Airbus was doing anything to convince the Doha-based Qatar Airways to consider more Airbus aircraft since the carrier's Chief Executive Akbar Al Baker's recent disappointment with Boeing's 787 programme delay, Leahy said: "Qatar Airways is already a very large A350 customer and they are happy with the progress being made on that aircraft. I cannot comment on any discussions the airline is having with Boeing. I am not aware of it."

He said both Emirates and Qatar Airways are "large" Airbus customers at present. "And I expect to remain large customers even in the future," said Leahy.

Regarding the aircraft demand growth expected in the Middle East next year, Leahy said: "Middle Eastern airlines tend to be the barometer of the industry. Some of the airlines in the region were the first to be hit by the global financial crisis. They are seeing the market recover now. And I think as the Middle East recovers, the rest of the world would recover quickly."

As for the region's airlines increasing their orders next year, Leahy said: "Orders for next year will be relatively flat. I don't have a number now but I do not see any big increase or a big decrease. However, the Middle East is a strong region in terms of orders. And we have very high expectations from the Middle East."

Regarding aircraft financing, Leahy said Airbus has so far not seen a problem with getting financing for airlines in this region. "The Middle East airlines tend to have more liquidity than some of the airlines in other parts of the world," he said.

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