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Thai Airways has revealed that although it would like to cancel its order for six Airbus A380s, it will not able to do so due to the financial consequences of such a move.

Wallop Bhukkanasut, the chairman of Thai Airways’ executive board, said: “The best option available for us is to delay taking delivery of those A380s.”

Thailand’s flag carrier had looked to either cancel the A380 order or change the contract to another Airbus aircraft in development, the A350-1000, as it began to believe that the superjumbo would not be economical for it to operate.

In recent negotiations with Airbus, the plane manufacturer ruled out these possibilities, leaving Thai Airways with either having to proceed with the current order or to engage in a legal battle that could damage the airline and the country’s image – which the carrier says it wants to avoid.

Cancelling the order would result in penalties amounting to US$700 million – $300 million in pre-payment for airframes and $400 million in contracts that have already been committed.

The chairman said to reporters after a recent board meeting: “Several contracts involved in the A380s are restricted with absolutely no room for change.”

Thanks to www.bangkokpost.com for the above quotes, for more information on this article please visit their website.

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