Only two weeks ago Emirates raised concerns that Airbus’ buffer erosion in the A350XWB program was not acceptable. Now its Persian Gulf rival, Qatar Airways claims that there will be no delay, or that if there is one, it will only be a matter of months, in contrast to the debilitating delays witnessed on the 787 program.

But Emirates President Tim Clark has again spoken of problems on the big Airbus twin.

“If there is a delay it will be just a few months, but nothing more”, says Qatar Airways’ CEO, Akbar Al Baker, who sensationally lambasted Boeing last summer over delays to the 787.

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“These [A350's] are very important in meshing in our retirement programme, and there are leases and the ending of financing instruments which all coincide with these. I do hope there is clarity and transparency with regard to what is going on with the A350 programme, because this is an issue,” Clark told The National.
 
Of course, transparency was a fundamental issue for Boeing’s 787 too during the five crippling and embarrassing delays encountered since its rollout on July 8, 2007.
 
“It would be a major problem for us if they did not deliver on time, and if they are overweight, then there are issues with that as well,” Clark added.

Emirates hopes to use the A350-900 to replace the ageing A330-200′s, A340-500′s, 777-200′s, 777-200ER’s and 777-300′s in its fleet.

Emirates still harbours significant concerns at the larger, A350-1000 which is understood to be “out of the running” for the next tranche of orders the airline is tipped to place, leaving the A330-300 and 777-300ER as frontrunners.

Boeing Commercial Airplanes CEO noted earlier this month that he “anticipated more 777 orders in the near term“, with Emirates the most likely candidate for the type, while the carrier has yet to firm up a letter of interest for A330-300′s back in July 2008.

While speculation mounts that the A350XWB service entry will slide, Airbus continues to state for now at least, that the first example will be handed over to Qatar Airways in mid-2013.