Australia's Qantas Airways said Thursday it would discontinue or reduce a number of international services, mainly to Japan and Southeast Asian destinations, to cut costs in the face of high oil prices.

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Airbus has also faced recent problems with wing cracks in its A380 superjumbo planes, which have forced clients such as Qantas Airways to delay their deliveries by almost four years until the aircraft are fully fixed.

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The fanfare over the release of its A380 was dampened by a variety of production issues, including cabin wiring issues, cracks that appeared inside some of the wings, and an engine that blew apart during the take-off of a Qantas Airways flight departing Singapore in 2010.

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Airlines planning to operate the A380 at Heathrow include Singapore Airlines, Emirates, Virgin Atlantic, Qantas, Qatar Airways and Malaysia Airlines.

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Unlike the many airlines that have since followed suit (Qantas, Thai Airways, Aeromexico and Jetstar, to name a few), Air Baltic ultimately dropped the program.

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The merged carrier would continue American's participation in the OneWorld alliance, which was founded by American, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas.

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