Thai Airways says keeps A380 order, to buy 8 A330s

BANGKOK, Feb 2 (Reuters) Thai Airways International will maintain its order for six Airbus A380 superjumbo planes but wants further talks with the plane maker about compensation for delivery delays, a board member said on Friday.

The airline also planned to buy eight A330-300 aircraft after Airbus offered a million discount on each plane as part of the compensation for the A380 delays, Ruengroj Mahasaranond told Reuters after a board meeting.

''In principle, the board has agreed to order six Airbus A380 and another eight A330-300 aircraft,'' he said. ''We need to talk more if there is something wrong with Airbus and who will be responsible for further delayed delivery.'' He did not give a total dollar figure for the A330s.

Deliveries of the 555-seat A380, the world's biggest commercial airliner, are two years behind schedule, partly due to problems with installing wiring on the aircraft.

The A330-300 planes would be delivered gradually to Thai Airways starting from next year, when the national carrier was due to decommission 4 or 5 mid-sized aircraft, Ruengroj said.

Airbus, controlled by aerospace group EADS , had apologised for the delay to Thai Airways and expected the first A380 to be delivered in 2010, senior Airbus official Edouard Ullmo said last month.

At the midday break, Thai Airways shares were up 0.6 percent at 44 baht, while the overall Thai stock index was up 1.4 percent.

REUTERS CS ND13-4