Airbus delays delivery of an A380 after Qantas engine problem

Airplane-maker Airbus will only deliver 19, instead of 20, A380 planes after complications with the Rolls-Royce engines, a spokesman said Wednesday.

One of three airplanes destined for Australian airline Qantas would not be ready by the end of 2010 but instead be delivered in early 2011, Stefan Schaffrath said, DPA reported.

Airbus chief Tom Enders had earlier written in an email to French journalists that "we still face significant challenges going forward. And certainly, the Rolls-Royce engine incident on Qantas flight QF32 has added further disruptions and complications to our production."

Qantas grounded its fleet of A380s temporarily in November after an explosion in one airplane's Rolls Royce engine forced it to make an emergency landing in Singapore.

The airplane-maker's priority was now to "do everything possible to ensure that the reputation of our great aircraft with customers and passengers alike will not suffer in this difficult period," Enders wrote.

Airbus was still planning on increasing production from two A380 planes a month to three, Schaffrath added. The company planned to produce nearly two dozen in 2011. More details would be given at the yearly press conference on January 11.