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SINGAPORE, June 14 (Reuters) Singapore Airlines ordered Boeing aircraft worth $4.52 billion but said the move was unrelated to its disappointment over the latest delay in the A380 superjumbo, for which it will seek compensation from planemaker Airbus.

Airbus revealed delays of at least six months in deliveries of the A380 on Tuesday, an embarrassment expected to blow a 2 billion euro ($2.5 billion) cash hole in Airbus parent EADS starting in 2007.

''We are disappointed with the news of further delays, but will work with Airbus to minimise the delays and their impact,'' said a spokesman for Singapore Airlines, which plans to be the first to fly the world's biggest passenger aircraft at the end of this year.

Later on Wednesday, Singapore Airlines announced an order for 20 Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners worth $4.52 billion at list prices and said it would take rights for another 20 planes -- a further blow to Airbus, which had hoped to sell the airline its competing mid-sized widebody A350 planes.

Boeing's shares rose $3.91, or 5.1 percent, to $80.95 on the New York Stock Exchange.

A spokesman for state-controlled Singapore Airlines said it was ''exploring issues'' regarding compensation for the delay with Airbus but stressed that its order for Boeing aircraft was not linked to the latest A380 delay.

The 787-9, which can carry between 250 and 290 passengers and will have range of 15,900 to 16,300 km (9,900 to 10,200 miles), will be used for flights to north Asia, India and the Middle East.

Singapore Airlines has not yet chosen the engines for the aircraft and said it will fund the purchase out of its cash flow.

BOEING NO SURPRISE Analysts said the airline's decision was not entirely unexpected after its chief executive, Chew Choon Seng, said in April that Airbus had not done enough to make the A350 competitive and should have countered Boeing's proposed new fuel-efficient plane with a new one of its own.

''It's no surprise that Singapore Air was going to go with the 787 after its chief executive's derisive comments on the A350 in April. But the timing of the order announcement makes for a particularly bad day at Airbus,'' said Richard Pinkham, a consultant at the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation in Singapore.

Chew's comments carry great weight in the industry because Singapore is a prized customer for both manufacturers.

The airline, the world's number-two in terms of stock market value after Southwest Airlines of the United States and among the most profitable carriers, is expected to use the huge aircraft on its key London-Sydney route in the first half of next year.

EADS said it would still deliver the first $285 million A380 to Singapore Airlines this year, but would slow down deliveries from next year onwards because of problems with the installation of electrical wiring.

''We have had an industrial delay. It will shift the programme to the right by six to seven months,'' John Leahy, Airbus's chief commercial officer, told Reuters on Tuesday.

EADS acknowledged it would have to pay penalties to carriers that have signed up for the A380.

The European planemaker upset airlines earlier in the A380 production cycle by announcing a six-month delay after insisting for months that the programme was running to schedule.

Carriers were angered because the sudden news of a delay disrupted their plans for deploying the plane and in some cases could force airlines to lease other aircraft to use until the A380 is ready. Airlines have sought compensation from Airbus for those setbacks.

Reuters SY GC2050