Giant wings were shipped from the dock on Thursday

The company wants to transport parts for its A380 superjumbo by sea but the port has yet to get the go-head from regulators to dredge the estuary.

There have been warnings unless the situation is resolved the �11bn deal to make the wings may be in danger.

But concerns have been expressed about the effect of dredging on wildlife.

It is imperative we keep working to resolve this dredging issue delay Brian Fleet

Airbus was able to use the port for the first time on Thursday due to favourable tides and some skilful manoeuvring of its purpose-built ship the Ville de Bordeaux.

Brian Fleet of Airbus said it was unlikely the ship would be able to repeat the feat no matter what the tide and weather conditions were.

But he said the company was now looking to see if a proposed limited dredge would be sufficient to allow further deliveries for the next few months.

However he said it was a short-term measure and the company needed to be allowed to dredge more extensively.

"The permission to dredge sought by the Port, whilst not giving 24/7 availability of a deep enough channel, would allow the transportation of A380 wings throughout the year in line with the requirements of the A380 programme.

"It is imperative we keep working to resolve this dredging issue delay.

"From all the work we did looking at all methods of transportation in the days of planning the A380 programme we believe there are no practical alternatives."

The next wing delivery is scheduled for August.