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A380 Cancellations by Qantas Raise new Questions About the Superjumbo's Future:
Australia's Qantas (QABSY) said Thursday that it had scrapped longstanding plans to buy eight more of the double-decker planes
The A380 has been a major disappointmentfor Airbus ( EADSF) , racking up less than a quarter of the sales the European company forecast when it first introduced the giant jetliner more than a decade ago. The underwhelming demand has fueled questions about how long the manufacturer can justify continuing production of the iconic aircraft.
[...] Other airlines including Virgin Atlantic have ditched plans to buy the aircraft in the past year. Airbus now has only 79 firm orders for it, according to FlightGlobal data.
The program's future could hinge on Dubai-based Emirates, the largest A380 operator with more than 100 of the aircraft in service. The Gulf carrier last year ordered a further 20 of the superjumbo jets, with the option to buy an additional 16 on top of that.
But Airbus said last month that it was renegotiating the deal with Emirates following reports that the airline was looking to switch its orders to the smaller and newer A350.
According to Wikipedia, an A380 has seating for 575-853 depending on variant and configuration.
(Score: 2) by bob_super on Monday February 11 2019, @07:12AM
It's the most comfortable plane I've ever cattle-classed on intercontinental flights.
But airlines want it to have a bigger cargo hold, and lose two engines.
They just need to get certified to fly on two engines right after takeoff, and find a way to reduce the drag from the other two. I don't think that they could pull a 330 (mount 2 engines only on the same wing as the 340)
There was a good AJ article recently about Vietnamese major airports being way over capacity, and airlines being desperate for slots. That's where the A380 was supposed to shine. There's still hope as airports and pilot numbers have not followed the Asian growth