Etihad cancels damaged plane order, keeps others

PARIS, July 8 (Reuters) - Etihad Airways confirmed on Wednesday it had cancelled an Airbus plane order but stressed this was related to an accident during ground testing in 2007 and not driven by any change of commercial strategy.

Airbus data released on Wednesday showed that the Abu Dhabi carrier had cancelled one of its eight outstanding orders for long-distance A340-600 jetliners worth $250 million each at list prices, Reuters reported earlier [ID:nL8720597].

An Etihad spokesman said the cancelled order related to an aircraft which rammed into a concrete wall during engine testing at the planemaker's Toulouse headquarters in November 2007, injuring 9 people inlcuding 4 seriously.

"Etihad has not deferred or cancelled any of its aircraft orders" other than the damaged A340, the spokesman said.

Among planes due to be delivered, Etihad has 10 Airbus A380s on order with deliveries due to start in 2012.

The June order cancellation means Airbus will not be obliged to rebuild the A340, which was damaged beyond repair.

The Etihad spokesman declined to discuss details of any compensation that may have been negotiated.

(Reporting by Tim Hepher)