FedEx, Lufthansa eye superjumbos

The A380: sold at a discount to bulk buyers

The US courier company Federal Express and the German airline Lufthansa appear to be on the verge of ordering a dozen or more or the proposed Airbus A380 aircraft.

This is normal industry standard. It's like if you buy 100 cars, you get a discount as well

Airbus Industrie spokesman

FedEx is reportedly considering an order for up to 10 of the superjumbos.

Lufthansa is considering ordering at least two if they go ahead, based on the logic that "it is never good to have just one of a new plane".

A spokeswoman said she was unable to be more specific about how many aircraft Lufthansa would want to order.

The German airline is considering both the A380 and its competitor Boeing's proposed 747X, a superjumbo which would be a stretched version of its existing jumbo, for routes between Frankfurt and Tokyo, New York, Singapore and Delhi.

FedEx order imminent?

FedEx might decide to place an order soon, perhaps by the end of January, according to a report in Wall Street Journal Europe.

One is a very new one, the other is a development of an existing bird

Lufthansa spokeswoman

A spokesman for Airbus Industrie could not confirm that talks were ongoing with FedEx in particular, but said "we are, in general, talking with every major airline in the world".

If an order is placed, FedEx would become the first US company to sign up for Europe's superjumbo.

Lufthansa may decide in spring

Lufthansa would need a bigger plane by 2007 or 2008, so the airline does not feel any pressure to make a quick decision, the spokeswoman said.

However, a report outlining the pros and cons of each aircraft should be completed by spring, and a decision should not be far behind, the spokeswoman predicted.

The spokeswoman was unable to disclose whether Lufthansa would order just one of the planes, or both the A380 and the 747X.

"One is a very new [aircraft], the other is a development of an existing bird," she said.

Boeing has long argued that the market simply is not there for a superjumbo, but the US plane maker has nonetheless decided to explore ways to modify its existing 747 plane.

So far, Lufthansa is believed to be the only airline to express an interest in the stretched version.

Significant discounts

The so-called superjumbos have a catalogue price of $230m, but the Airbus Industrie spokesman acknowledged that significant discounts were granted for sizeable orders.

"This is normal industry standard. It's like if you buy 100 cars, you get discounts as well," he said.

The spokesman would not reveal the size of any discounts, but industry sources said airlines were probably paying about $160m.

Massive project

The go-ahead for the £8bn (12.8bn euro, $12bn) project to build the aircraft came only last month, once Airbus Industrie had secured the 50 orders it needed to go make it financially viable.

The launch was hailed as a victory by Airbus' European parents, not only because the aircraft stole a lead on its rival Boeing of the US, but also because the engineering project will create thousands of jobs across Europe.

The European Aeronautic Defence & Space Company (EADS), which was formed in July 2000 through the merger of France's Aerospatiale Matra, Germany's DaimlerChrysler Aerospace (Dasa) and Construcciones Aeronauticas (CASA) of Spain, owns 80% of Airbus.

US protest

But the European victory quickly came under attack from the US because of the project's financial assistance from the European Union.

Up to a third of the development costs of the superjumbo project are due to be paid for by the governments of France, Germany and the UK.

This led to charges from Airbus competitor, Boeing, that the project was economically unviable.

"(President Clinton) stressed his concern that if that issue is not taken seriously (then it) could be a difficult issue between the US and EU in trade in the future," said Gene Sperling, presidential economic adviser Gene Sperling after Mr Clinton's talks with EU leaders at the White House in December.