DELAYS to the Airbus A380 superjumbo could mean that the firm won’t be able to introduce its new generation single-aisle jet for another 15 years.

John Leahy, Airbus chief operating officer, admitted that a successor to the best- selling A320 family of aircraft – the wings for which are made at Broughton, near Chester – is not expected to enter service until about 2024.

That’s six years further away than the 2018 estimate Mr Leahy had given last year, and will come as a severe blow to airlines looking to buy more fuel-efficient planes.

Airbus rival Boeing is also struggling with delays to its latest mid-sized model, the 787 Dreamliner, and is not expected to ready its replacement for the 737 before 2020.

Aircraft companies in China, Canada, Japan and Brazil may use the gap in delivery of A320 and 737 replacements to grab bigger slices of the lucrative single-aisle market which has been dominated by Boeing and Airbus for decades.

Single-aisle jets with 100 to 200 seats have been the industry’s workhorses for decades, and account for about 60% of airliner sales.

Last week, Airbus chief executive Tom Enders warned the planemaker faced two “difficult” years ahead and he could not rule out additional production cuts.