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This story first appeared in the April 2019 edition of Australian Aviation.
If you had asked anyone standing at the flightlines in Toulouse 14 years ago — when the first Airbus A380 took to the skies — whether the then-35-year-old Boeing 747 would outlive the new superjumbo in production, you’d have had few voices saying yes. But there was little surprise at the news of the A380 programme’s cancellation on February 14: with few new orders in recent years, production was already planned to be reduced to six a year from 2020, a level that was essentially unsustainable.
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Philc
says:Really enjoyed this article (re-read it twice) The analogy to 717 may prove prophetic imo well down the track. I can’t see Etihad being able to afford theirs much longer. Truly hope QATAR not only keep theirs but pick up a few more used later production hulls . Qantas & Hi Fly I hope look at the obvious. MH will eventually ditch A380 I feel for fiscal reasons. Who knows with TG though .The have a habit of keeping orphans Perhaps a “courageous” would reconfigure a hull with cattle class 35 inch pitch and some added goodies to fill them however fuel uplift due to extra weight makes the numbers on some longer routes harder to guess BA could probably absorb 4 to 6 more to ease Congestion on some ports . In hindsight, if only Airbus had got the initial wing design spot on ( freighter considerations on that wing I sense snookered them in a few mods ) From a Pax point of view love them But bean counters will loathe them
Sam
says:Did I read it correctly? “… as Emirates, in a fitting meta-coda, declined to take its final 39 aircraft in favour of smaller, more efficient twinjets: 30 A350-900 and 40 A330-800 aircraft. Emirates is returning to the latter type after having disposed of all its earlier A330s… ” If true, then the a330-800neo is getting some good/big client in addition to Uganda airlines.
Mark
says:The A380 is simply the best passenger experience going around. Nothing compares.
John Wright
says:I would be disappointed if densification results in reduced passenger comfort in A380 Economy. Currently, I much prefer to fly Economy in the A380 because its Economy seats and in particular, its Premium Economy seats are so much more comfortable than those of its newer competitor – the Dreamliner, which I have found particularly uncomfortable for long-haul journeys in comparison to the A380.
Geoff
says:No Sam. 40 A330-900 plus the 30 A350’s.
Lucas
says:@John Wright. I see the seating comfort criticism of the 777/787 apportioned incorrectly to the design by Boeing so many times.
Not that I’m showing any favouritism to airbus or Boeing…. when comparing the Seat comfort between the 777/787 and A350/A330 people make the mistake of attributing this to the plane maker. Yes, Boeing could have made the fuselage slightly wider (at a financial and design/performance cost), however the seating arrangement is strictly the choice of the airliner.
The 787 is incorrectly flown (IMO) by all airlines bar Japan Airlines in economy class at 9 abrest. Only Japan Airlines fly the 787 in its intended economy design seating formation of 8 abreast, which is truly on par with the Airbus A330/A350 experience. If you get a chance to fly the Japan Airlines 8 abreast, do so. A very good product.
Same applies to airlines squeezing 10 abrest into the 777, and reductions seat width in economy class. Unfortunately economics garnished from seating capacity rather than economic harnessed from seating comfort is the order of the day on most legacy airlines to compete against low cost outfits.
Paul Proctor
says:Can’t decide, is this a puff piece disguised as editorial or an opinion piece lamenting the passing of the A380? Contains several unsupportable statements and conjectures. But I agree A380 will find niche use.
AQ
says:I love how you are so optimistic on the future of the A380! With air travel demands growing rapidly, we might be well seeing this plane coming back to production!
Also, a bit of correction: Air France will retain 7, not 5 jets.
Stephen
says:Having flown in suites class (Singapore Airlines) old and new a number of times, i’m not looking forward to going back to standard seating at the front of smaller aircraft. I know one of my next flights will have a 777 sector and it doesn’t have suites, but it would be great if the features of the A380 could be incorporated onto other jets at some stage, especially if the A380 fleets are reduced.