U.S. package-delivery giant UPS has signed an agreement with Airbus that sets out a timetable for deciding the status of UPS's order for the freighter version of the A380, UPS said on Friday in a statement.

The agreement specifies changed delivery dates for the A380F and provides for possible termination of the original purchase agreement by either party later in 2007, according to the statement.

Deliveries of UPS's first 10 A380s were originally scheduled to begin in 2009 and run through 2012.

"UPS's decision to purchase the A380 freighter was based on a lengthy evaluation of our future network needs to meet customer demands across a variety of global trade lanes," said Bob Lekites, UPS's vice president of Airline and International Operations. "Those needs still exist and UPS has been carefully evaluating various options since Airbus announced production delays late last year," he said.

FedEx Corp. and International Lease Finance Corp., a unit of American International Group Inc., canceled their orders for A380s last year amid repeated delays.

FedEx instead ordered 15 freighter planes from Airbus rival Boeing Co. UPS also ordered 27 Boeing 767 freighters for its package-delivery business earlier this month.

Source: Xinhua