Airbus 'screwed up' on A380 cracks: CEO

Airbus Chief Executive Thomas Enders vowed on Monday that the company will quickly fix tiny cracks detected on the wings of its flagship A380 super jumbo, admitting "we screwed that up".

Enders said he hoped that the wing problem as well as troubles on some of the A380's Rolls Royce engines which had been detected earlier will not affect the European aircraft maker's credibility.

Enders was asked about the impact of the wing and engine problems on Airbus' future and reputation on the eve of the Singapore Airshow.

He said the engine problems had been fixed by engine supplier Rolls Royce, and vowed Airbus will deal with the wing fissures.

"Very clearly, in the same way, we will fix the wing problems as quickly as possible. This is unfortunate," he said.

"This is us, we screwed that up. We will fix it as quickly as possible and whatever it costs, that is something too early to say at this point."

The European Aviation Safety Agency has ordered that all Airbus A380 planes be checked for wing cracks, although the aircraft maker insisted they did not pose any danger to flight safety.

Problems with Rolls Royce engines in A380s -- the world's biggest passenger planes -- came to light after one used by Qantas made an emergency landing in Singapore in November 2010 because of a mid-air engine explosion.

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau said in a report that the blast on the Qantas aircraft could have been caused by a possible manufacturing issue related to oil pipes in the Rolls-Royce Trent 900 engine.
 

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