AIRBUS COULD SCRAP A380 SUPERJUMBO JET PRODUCTION

Airbus said Monday it will stop making the costly A380 superjumbo jet if the European multinational corporation doesn’t land a long-term deal with the Emirates airline for a steady supply of the planes. Airbus chief salesman John Leahy told news reporters in Paris the Dubai-based, governmentowned airline is “the only one who has the ability” to commit to a minimum of six planes a year for at least eight to 10 years, the production timetable Airbus needs to make the program viable. Emirates declined to comment. The news came as Airbus said net orders for all of the company’s aircraft rose 52% to 1,109 in 2017. The total topped the 912 commercial plane orders reported by U.S. aerospace giant Boeing and made Airbus the winner in the rivals’ annual order contest for a fifth consecutive year.