UPS, Airbus Revise A380 Agreement

UPS and Airbus signed an agreement yesterday that sets out a timetable for deciding the status of UPS’s order for the freighter version of the A380. The agreement specifies changed delivery dates for the A380F and provides for possible termination of the original purchase agreement by either party later in 2007.

Deliveries of UPS’s first 10 A380s were originally scheduled to begin in 2009 and run through 2012.

“UPS’s decision to purchase the A380 freighter was based on a lengthy evaluation of our future network needs to meet customer demands across a variety of global trade lanes,” said Bob Lekites, UPS’s vice president of Airline and International Operations. “Those needs still exist and UPS has been carefully evaluating various options since Airbus announced production delays late last year. This agreement will provide us additional time to evaluate our network requirements and make a decision once and for all as to how best to ensure service to our customers.”