'No, we are not discussing a cancellation at this point,' Airbus chief operating officer for customers, Mr John Leahy, told reporters.

'We don't want to comment on ongoing discussions and negotiations but I'll be hopeful that we'll have something to announce in the not too distant future,' he said.

Deliveries of the A380, the world's largest commercial airliner and the cornerstone in Airbus efforts to catch up with Boeing, are now three years behind schedule because of production problems.

Malaysia Airlines has said however that delivery delays will not hurt its recovery plan under which it has broken back into the black in recent years.

Airbus has said that the carrier will be compensated for the delay in the delivery of the aircraft.

Mr Leahy also said that Airbus had submitted an updated proposal to supply the national carrier with about 50 narrow-bodied aircrafts - A320s and A321s - as replacements to its existing fleet.

'They told us today they'll be making a decision very shortly on their narrow-bodied replacements,' he said. -- AFP