Airbus A380 not selling.

[John]

I can't believe there would be a massive market for these kind of planes anyway would there?

Airbus Raises Questions Over A380, Cuts A330 Production | Commercial Aviation content from Aviation Week

 

[Giantvanman]

I wonder if it is because they need a longer runway and different terminal infrastructure whilst the new Boeing 747-8 can still land at all the places it always has.

 

[dozypillock]

I wonder if it is because they need a longer runway and different terminal infrastructure whilst the new Boeing 747-8 can still land at all the places it always has.

Reminds me of a story some time ago that made me laugh as an engineer. I think it was France, but somebody designed trains that did not fit the platforms so now all the platforms have to be made bigger!...I wonder if the designer, and the purchaser still have jobs?

Neil

 

[davidjpowell]

I wonder if it is because they need a longer runway and different terminal infrastructure whilst the new Boeing 747-8 can still land at all the places it always has.

Nope Hub to Hub has not been as popular. New dreamliner and A350 have become popular providing more fuel efficient aircraft operating 'point to point'.

It will be interesting to see what happens in the longer term when the current generation of 747/A380 need replacing on the larger routes and whether anyone builds a replacement....

 

[paulshep69]

The A380 is a cracking aeroplane to fly on, there seems to be so much more space than on most wide bodied jets, it would be a great shame if Airbus didn't continue to produce it.

 

[paulshep69]

Nope Hub to Hub has not been as popular. New dreamliner and A350 have become popular providing more fuel efficient aircraft operating 'point to point'.

It will be interesting to see what happens in the longer term when the current generation of 747/A380 need replacing on the larger routes and whether anyone builds a replacement....

The A380 appears to be being lined up as a replacement for its self, with more fuel efficient RR engines, allowing a non-stop Australia to Europe flight to become reality according to this:

A global range A380 comes into view with new RR engine | Plane Talking

 

[John]

Reminds me of a story some time ago that made me laugh as an engineer. I think it was France, but somebody designed trains that did not fit the platforms so now all the platforms have to be made bigger!...I wonder if the designer, and the purchaser still have jobs?

Neil

I remember that story as well. Did seem a bit 'glaring' at the time.

 

[guydewdney]

Hope its nothing to do with my electrical connectors I designed for it.........

 

[Dryce]

I wonder if it is because they need a longer runway and different terminal infrastructure whilst the new Boeing 747-8 can still land at all the places it always has.

747-8 is rather more popular as a freighter. Not so many passenger versions sold.

The A380 doesn't need 'a longer runway'. Though airports may need to check and modify taxiways and apron areas for clearance.

I suspect the real problem with the A380 is competition between airlines and the lkes of the 777. It works well for a hub like Dubai where there is one dominant carrier (Emirates) basically emptying huge numbers off from aircraft inbound and transfering them on to aircraft outbound.

OTOH if you have an airport where there are more than one airline competing then filling a large aircraft as large as the A380 becomes problematic. Two or three airlines can fill the likes of 777s each but not a much larger aircraft.

Then there is the issue of servicing multiple destinations with smaller aircraft rather the one destination with a large aircraft. The likes of BA may move a lot of passengers across the Atlantic to teh US but they don't just send them all to a couple of destinations there - they have routes to over 20 cities in the US. And there is that competition issue as well on some of them.

Then there is the issue of premium traffic - people paying business class fares will prefer frequency of flights - eg. more than one flight per day on busy routes, at least one flight per day on less busy routes. Sticking an A380 on and flying 3 times a week instead of 6 times a week with a 777 may generate less yield.

So it's complicated.

Falling oil prices also mean airlines are less inclined to invest in new more efficient aircraft.

 

[Dryce]

It will be interesting to see what happens in the longer term when the current generation of 747/A380 need replacing on the larger routes and whether anyone builds a replacement....

It won't be worth designing a new aircraft.

The 747 is how old now? Boeing don't really want to desig a whole new replacement. Added to which if you revamp an older aircraft design you get the advantage of not having to worry about some new design constraints that would otherwise be imposed on a new design.

So I suspect that the A380 will last a long long time - we'll just see new engines, things like winglets, changes in seating density and certification, and fuselage stretches.

 

[C240Sport97]

A380 is the best long haul plane by far, by very very far

 

[Dryce]

A380 is the best long haul plane by far, by very very far

The interior fit of planes varies quite a bit.

I prefer the business class layout on the Emirates A380s over their 777s but if I'm travelling in the back then some of their newer 777s have a better entertainment setup IMO.

 

[Dryce]

I can't believe there would be a massive market for these kind of planes anyway would there?

ISTR seeing similar comments about the early years of the 747. It struggled for sales at times.

Best selling model of the 747 ? It was the 747-400 which appeared abouty 20 years into the life of the aircraft.

It's not a simple business ...

 

[Benzowner]

There have been a few programs on TV lately regarding the A380, and the plane is being continually modified to improve both performance and comfort. One of the recent mods was a reduced weight undercarriage, which had to be tested to see if it would deploy in the event of hydraulic failure, it has to fall and lock into position under gravity. On the next program, they were reducing the amount of "waste" material on seams, removing it to further reduce weight. The savings on fuel consumption were amazing.

 

[C240Sport97]

There have been a few programs on TV lately regarding the A380,

would have loved to watch them .. are they repeated?