Smash hit

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Time of Crisis

April 2006: BAE Systems confirms plans to sell its 20 per cent stake in Airbus to EADS, believing that the sale would raise £3 billion

June: EADS says that €2 billion (£1.35 billion) will be wiped off its earnings in the next four years because of a new six-month delay in delivering the A380 superjumbo

June: Noël Forgeard, joint chief executive of EADS, fights for his job after it emerges that he sold shares worth millions of euros months before the announcement of delays by Airbus. Mr Forgeard made a €2.5 million profit, his three children a total of €1.2 million. Four other executives made about €3.2 million in total

July: Mr Forgeard and Gustav Humbert, head of EADS’s Airbus unit, resign. An independent assessment of Airbus by NM Rothschild, the investment bank, values BAE Systems’ 20 per cent stake at £1.9 billion

October 3: A380 customers are told of new year-long delay, costing EADS €4.8 billion in lost earnings

October 9: Christian Streiff, Airbus’s chief executive, resigns after three months in the job. He clashed with EADS over plans to shake up Airbus and cut costs. He is replaced by Loius Gallois

October 19: Airbus announces that it must sell 420 A380s to break even. It has orders for 159 — a shortfall of $78 billion October 27: Emirates Airline confirms it is cancelling $4 billion of A340 orders

November 7: FedEx scraps a deal for ten aircraft worth more than $2.5 billion

Members of the Fleet

A300/310 The A300 was Airbus’s first aircraft. It was the first large aircraft to fly (in 1972) with only two engines. Total orders, 821. Out of production, except for freighters

A320 Airbus’s bestseller. Twin engines, single aisle. Total orders, 4,732. List price $55-$80 million (£29-£42 million). The aircraft allowed Airbus to challenge, and overtake, Boeing

A321 Stretched version of the A320, popular with charter airlines. Highest-capacity single-aisle aircraft available

A330/340 The old-timers. Twin (A330) and four (A340) engines, wide body. Total orders, 1,081. List price $150-$240 million. A330 is still built, but its old design has been overtaken by Boeing’s 777. The A340 is struggling to be competitive with four engines

A350 On the way. Twin engines, wide body. Will compete with the Boeing 787 and 777. List price $180 million-plus

A380 First delivery in 2007. Four engines, wide body. Total orders, 159. List price $300 million. Seats up to 650. Will be the biggest aircraft in the skies when it gets official certification, mid-December

A400M Military transport plane. Turbo prop. Not yet in production. Airbus started work on the project in the mid-1980s

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