New delays in the delivery of the A380 superjumbo jet from Airbus will not dent loss-making Malaysia Airlines' key financial turnaround plan, a report said today.

The New Straits Times also said that Airbus officials would arrive in the capital Kuala Lumpur next week to discuss among others issues of possible compensation for delays in the delivery of the new planes, and to look at how the delays will impact on existing contract arrangements.

"The new A380 were never included in the carrier's turnaround plan. As such, the latest delay will not affect its earnings projections for 2006," a company official said.

Idris Jala, Malaysia Airlines managing director said the carrier has been informed of the delay by Airbus.

"We have been notified by Airbus of a delay and are still receiving more information from them," he said.

Bigger issues

Chris Eng, OSK Research Sdn Bhd manager said that Malaysia Airlines had other bigger issues to worry about, including improving its poor financial health and high fuel cost.

Malaysia Airlines said yesterday that it was reviewing the terms of its purchase agreement for six A380 jets after manufacturer Airbus advised only nine of the aircraft would be delivered in 2007.

Under the RM4billion (US$1.1 billion) turnaround plan, announced in March after the airline posted a RM1.3 billion annual loss for 2005, Malaysia Airlines will surrender all but 19 major domestic routes to budget carrier AirAsia.

Malaysia Airlines has blamed its losses on crippling fuel prices and lower load factors but hopes to be back in the black by 2007 and to achieve record profitability the year after.

Airbus told clients Tuesday that delivery of the A380, which is designed to carry 555-840 passengers, would be delayed by an additional six to seven months because of production problems.