AIRSHOW - Airbus sees A380 progress, worried on dollar

DUBAI (Reuters) - Airbus faces continued production hiccups on its A380 superjumbo but is making progress in ramping up output, Chief Executive Tom Enders said.

In an interview with Reuters Television, he expressed renewed concerns about the weakness of the dollar and said the European planemaker would tap into new ways of driving down costs as opportunities arose.

"There is no secret about it. We are still having production hiccups. Production is not where we want to it to be. We are working very hard on it," Enders said, asked about Airbus targets for A380 deliveries in 2009 and 2010.

"I think that the picture is brightening up again and we are working hard with airlines to deliver more of these aircraft going forward," he said.

Enders was speaking in an embargoed interview before Airbus parent EADS issued lower third-quarter earnings.

Enders repeated concerns about the strength of the euro as the European currency clings to levels near $1.50.

"We are still very much concerned about the level of weakness in the dollar these days," Enders said.

Enders is overseeing a "Power8" restructuring plan that assumes a euro at $1.45.

He was asked whether Airbus was looking at expanding Power8 to adjust to a euro above that level on a durable basis.