PARIS, Nov 30 (Reuters) - Airbus dismissed any concerns over the impact of the Dubai crisis on Emirates airline on Monday, saying the Gulf carrier was up to date on its payments and would stick by expansion plans that call for dozens of new planes.
'We have complete faith in Emirates. They are current in all their contractual commitments with Airbus and we are confident that they will remain so,' Airbus sales chief John Leahy told Reuters.
'We expect (Emirates chief executive) Tim Clark and his team to continue their growth strategy and we want to be part of that bright future,' he said in a comment sent by email.
Clark told a British newspaper on Sunday that the airline, which has an estimated $55 billion of aircraft on order including more than 50 Airbus A380 superjumbos, had no plans to cancel plane purchases and would respect bond repayments. He also said the group's finances were on solid ground.
However if the turbulence gets worse, the airline will have to 'moderate' its growth, he told the Sunday Telegraph.
Emirates is a major customer of both EADS subsidiary Airbus and its U.S. rival Boeing.
(Reporting by Tim Hepher) Keywords: DUBAI/AIRBUS (paris.equities@reuters.com; +33 1 4949 5452; Reuters Messaging: tim.hepher.reuters.com@reuters.net) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2009. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.
'We have complete faith in Emirates. They are current in all their contractual commitments with Airbus and we are confident that they will remain so,' Airbus sales chief John Leahy told Reuters.
'We expect (Emirates chief executive) Tim Clark and his team to continue their growth strategy and we want to be part of that bright future,' he said in a comment sent by email.
Clark told a British newspaper on Sunday that the airline, which has an estimated $55 billion of aircraft on order including more than 50 Airbus A380 superjumbos, had no plans to cancel plane purchases and would respect bond repayments. He also said the group's finances were on solid ground.
However if the turbulence gets worse, the airline will have to 'moderate' its growth, he told the Sunday Telegraph.
Emirates is a major customer of both EADS subsidiary Airbus and its U.S. rival Boeing.
(Reporting by Tim Hepher) Keywords: DUBAI/AIRBUS (paris.equities@reuters.com; +33 1 4949 5452; Reuters Messaging: tim.hepher.reuters.com@reuters.net) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2009. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.
© 2009 AFX News
