Airbus A380 'may face new delays'

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Planemaker Airbus may have to announce further delays to the production of the A380, the head of BAE Systems has said.

Mike Turner issued the warning just a week after BAE agreed to sell its 20% stake in the aircraft business.

But majority owner EADS denied the claims, saying it was still carrying out an internal audit into the delays.

Delays to the superjumbo stemming from an electrical problem sparked a crisis that claimed the scalps of two top executives at EADS and Airbus.

'Unsurprised'

"I would not be surprised if there were more delays," Mr Turner told a press briefing.

He added that "all the ingredients are there" for further problems, although he did concede that no-one knew yet whether any further hold-ups would materialise.

EADS, which is buying BAE's 20% stake to give it full control of Airbus, said no-one could know whether the A380 would face further hurdles.

It said it had no idea where the claims had originated from as it was still investigating the problem, which could lead to losses of up to 2bn euros.

The A380, which has cost 12bn euros ($14bn; £8bn) to develop, will be the world's largest airliner - able to seat more than 800 passengers.