Both Australian air carrier Qantas and Singapore Airlines have said that they were informed by Airbus that there will be a delay of at least six months before the two airlines will begin to receive their orders for the new A380 superjumbo jet.

Singapore Airlines said that they were told that their first plane would be delivered in the last quarter of 2006 rather than in the second quarter, and Qantas will have to wait until April of 2007 to receive the first of the 12 planes they have ordered instead of getting it in autumn of 2006.

The delay comes at an unfortunate time for Airbus. Its majority parent company, EADS, has been contending with conflicts among some shareholders concerning management structure. Additionally, the US and European Union are continuing to contend over issues related to government subsidies for civil aircraft development.

The delays will also affect cash flow to Airbus, EADS and minority shareholder BAE Systems.

A spokeswoman for Airbus said that the delays are being caused by “industrial issues” revealed by the initial test flights of the aircraft, necessary modifications, and issues over customizations that some airlines had requested for their planes.

Also a factor was the effort to keep the weight of the aircraft down. The spokeswoman also clamed that no new aircraft had ever been delivered on time. Qantas has said that it will be asking for compensation for the delivery delays, as outlined in its contract with Airbus.