A380-800

Bregier was speaking to a closed meeting of analysts in London after the European planemaker delivered its 24th A380 for 2011 to Australia's Qantas (QAN.AX) late on Thursday.

Airbus had previously predicted more than 25 A380 deliveries in 2012. Airlines pay on delivery for most of the value of the aircraft, which sells for $375 million at list prices before discounts typically available to customers.

The A380, which went severely off schedule and financial target due to production problems in 2005 and 2006, is expected to make an operating profit before R&D in 2015, based on a euro at $1.35, Bregier said, according to a slide presentation.

He said Airbus had reduced airframe production costs on the world's largest airliner to a level equivalent to 65 on an index where 100 represents the costs in 2009, according to a copy of the presentation issued online. EADS said it would issue a recording of this and other speeches after the two-day event.

The index is expected to fall to 62 in 2012 and 61 in 2013.

Bregier is expected to become chief executive of the world's largest commercial planemaker when key mandates come up for renewal in 2012, with the current chief executive Tom Enders stepping up to run parent EADS (EAD.PA).

Bregier said another aircraft that has seen significant production problems, the Airbus A400M military airlifter, would receive its safety certification in the second quarter of 2012.

The first European troop and heavy cargo transporter is in the assembly line and will be delivered to the French Air Force in March 2013 as agreed with purchasing nations, Airbus said. The aircraft is around four years late due to engine problems.

THE discovery of tiny cracks in one of the wings of a Qantas A380 under extensive repair in Singapore has led to the detection of similar problems in four other Airbus superjumbos worldwide.

The cracks - less than a centimetre long - in the wing ribs of the A380s do not pose an immediate threat to the safety of the aircraft. The ribs are vertical fixtures that stabilise the wings.

But their detection is expected to prompt Airbus to issue a service bulletin to airlines later this month requiring them to check for the problem when their A380s are due for heavy maintenance every four years.

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Engineers only discovered the cracks in the wing ribs of the Qantas A380 - named the Nancy Bird-Walton - while they were conducting $130 million in repair work on the aircraft at Changi Airport.

Their initial suspicion was that the cracks - with a width hardly visible to the naked eye - were caused by the A380's mid-air engine explosion shortly after take off from Singapore in November 2010.

But subsequent investigations have found this was not the case and engineers have discovered similar cracks on three Airbus test aircraft and one operated by Singapore Airlines.

The cause of the cracks in the Nancy Bird-Walton's wing is still to be determined but an initial assessment is believed to pin the blame more on the way the wing ribs were constructed rather than due to the loads and thrust at which the aircraft was operated by Qantas.

The Nancy Bird-Walton had only been in service for two years when the engine exploded.

Qantas confirmed yesterday that ''minuscule cracking'' was found in the wing ribs of the Nancy Bird-Walton but it was ''not unique to Qantas''.

''No immediate action is required by A380 operators because the cracking presents no risk whatsoever to flight safety,'' a spokesman said.

''Formal guidance is being developed by Airbus that is likely to require A380 operators to inspect wing ribs for this type of cracking every four years - in line with scheduled maintenance checks. Qantas will comply fully with this guidance when it is published.''

Singapore Airlines confirmed yesterday a ''small number of cracks'' had been found on the wing rib feet of one of its A380s during an investigation in the second half of last year.

The cracks in the Qantas A380 have since been fixed, but other repair work to get the aircraft back into service is not expected to be finished until March.

Qantas has a further 11 superjumbos in its fleet which fly long-haul international routes to London and Los Angeles.

It will take delivery of two A380s next year but has deferred orders for a further six superjumbos by up to six years. Airbus declined to comment yesterday.

The new version features a 4t increase in maximum take-off weight to 573t and an additional 190km (100nm) range that will enable it to fly distances of 15,360km on MTOW-limited missions. Maximum landing weight and maximum zero fuel weight have also each increased by 2t, and structural payload capability rises by 1.5t on MZFW-limited missions.

To achieve the operating weight increases the airframe structure has been strengthened, which will become standard on aircraft delivered from 2013, although the higher operating weights will be offered as an option. According to Williams the increases are made possible through reductions in flight loads, which are partly achieved by the optimisation of the fly-by-wire control laws.

This new A380 build standard will be introduced later this year when assembly begins of the first wings at Airbus's Broughton, UK plant, and these will also incorporate a 1.5° increase in twist to further optimise aerodynamics as part of the improvement package. Airbus says that the upgrade does not require any thrust bumps, and is not capable of retrofit to earlier build aircraft.