In a response to the Airbus statement on the cancellation of Japanese LCC Skymark’s order of six A380s, Skymark CEO Shinichi Nishikubo accused Airbus of being inflexible during their contract negotiations.
Nishikubo said: "Since April this year we have been discussing amending the A380 purchase agreement with Airbus, but it has been a very tough negotiation and we still cannot find any solution that satisfies both parties. This is because one of their several requirements for the amendment is that we have to go under the umbrella of a major airline.”
Airbus had previously required Skymark to merge with a larger Japanese carrier as a condition of proceeding with the order: a demand that Nishikubo labelled as "threatening" to Skymark’s managerial independence while simultaneously calling the manufacturer's cancellation compensation claims of $700million "outrageous" and "beyond the realm of common sense".