Emirates are seeking £150m compensation from Airbus for delays to the delivery of the new A380 super jumbo. The Dubai-based international airline has ordered a fleet of 45 A380s and is due to be the launch carrier.

Emirates executives have become deeply frustrated as aggressive plans for the airline’s expansion are dependent on the use of the new craft. Three postponements to the delivery date, the most recent due to faults with the wiring, have pushed the delivery date back by at least two years.

Virgin and Qantas are together also seeking an additional £80m for delays to the delivery of their craft.

Parent company EADS now says it needs to sell 420 A380s to break even, up from a previous estimate of 270, although the company ultimately anticipates sales of 750 over the craft’s lifetime.

Airbus employs 55,000 people at 16 plants across Europe. As the company weighs up the expensive impact of the delays there are growing fears over the prospect of job cuts at the company. Over 13,000 people are employed at Airbus’s two UK plants, Filton and Broughton, both of which are designated Centres of Excellence. Union leaders have said there might be no more than a freeze in recruitment in the UK, as the bulk of job cuts are likely to be in France and Germany.