Qantas Airways Chief Executive Geoff Dixon said Thursday he was certain the Australian national carrier would get compensation from Airbus for its failure to deliver the A380 superjumbo on schedule.

"We won't just seek it, we will get it," Dixon told reporters who asked about compensation. He wouldn't comment on the amount being sought.

The European aircraft maker said earlier this month that production problems would delay deliveries of the double-decker jet, prompting Qantas and several other airlines to demand compensation.

Airbus still expects to deliver the first of A380 jets to Singapore Airlines Ltd. by the end of 2006, while the first of 12 planes ordered by Qantas is now expected in October 2007, six months later than scheduled.

This is the second time the delivery has been postponed; initially, Airbus had promised delivery to Qantas in October 2006.

Dixon said that while Qantas has no intention of changing the order, "we are looking and talking to Airbus about replacement aircraft" in the meantime."

We have contracts and conditions that require Airbus to compensate us based on delivery timetables and many of those have been activated," Dixon said.The delays have sparked a crisis at Airbus' parent company, European Aeronautics Defence & Space Co.

A spokesman for Airbus in Australia said all parts of airline contracts are confidential, reiterating comments made by chief executive Gustav Humbert in Toulouse, France, last week.

Qantas chose the new Boeing 787 "Dreamliner" as the cornerstone of its US$15 billion (euro11.9 billion) domestic and international fleet renewal program in December, agreeing to buy up to 115 of the aircraft with delivery due from August 2008.