Death knell for the A380?

[reader]

From Bloomberg News (Jan. 31)

A year after Airbus SE won what appeared to be a lifesaving order for its A380 double-decker, the flagship program’s future is once again on the line.

Gulf carrier Emirates may convert some or all of its most recent 20 superjumbo orders into smaller A350s, people familiar with the matter said. That would slash the backlog and lead Airbus to kill off a plane that’s had limited interest from other airlines, just 11 years after it entered commercial service.

Airbus would keep the superjumbo going until other outstanding orders for the model were fulfilled, mostly from an earlier Emirates deal, according to the people, who asked not to be named as the talks are private. But the move would ultimately mean shuttering a production line the manufacturer has fought to retain in anticipation of a revival in demand.

Toulouse, France-based Airbus seemed to have secured the A380’s future when it agreed last January to sell as many as 36 planes to Emirates. Since then, though, it has struggled to find an engine maker willing to meet the carrier’s price and performance demands. An alliance of General Electric Co. and Pratt & Whitney showed little enthusiasm, while incumbent supplier Rolls-Royce Holdings Plc has failed to agree terms after months of negotiations.

Airbus said in a stock-exchange statement that it’s in discussions with Emirates in relation to the A380 contract, which includes 16 options. The airline said talks were ongoing, while London-based Rolls-Royce declined to comment.

Adding the smaller plane, which features composite wings and two engines, making it more fuel efficient than the four-turbine A380, would give Emirates a three-model lineup. As well as being the No. 1 superjumbo operator the carrier also has the biggest fleet of Boeing Co. 777s and is the leading customer for the upgraded 777X model.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-01-31/airbus-a380-future-on-line-as-emirates-said-to-mull-a350-switch?srnd=premium

 

 

 

 

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/boeing-delivers-first-airplane-737-093800610.html

[fedssocr]

Given EK's financial woes this is not surprising. They still have a pretty big fleet of A380s though. For sure A350s are the plane for the future. Decent size but not too big. Huge range. Good economics. And I suppose once the 777X goes into service it will most likely be replace existing workhorse 777s.

[reader]

From CNBC (14 Feb.)

Airbus set to scrap production of the world's largest airliner

• In a statement published on Thursday, Airbus said the last A380 will be delivered in 2021.
• The decision comes after Emirates — the world's largest A380 customer — decided to cut back its orders of the iconic aircraft and order a total of 70 of the smaller A350 and A330neo models instead.
• Emirates Airline said it would continue to use Airbus' flagship aircraft well into the 2030s.

Europe's Airbus announced plans to scrap production of the world's largest airliner on Thursday, abandoning its A380 superjumbo program in favor of smaller, more nimble jets.

In a statement published on Thursday, Airbus said the last A380 will be delivered in 2021.

The decision comes after Emirates — the largest A380 customer — decided to cut back its orders of the iconic aircraft and order a total of 70 of the smaller A350 and A330neo models instead.

"As a result of this decision we have no substantial A380 backlog and hence no basis to sustain production, despite all our sales efforts with other airlines in recent years. This leads to the end of A380 deliveries in 2021," Airbus CEO Tom Enders said in a statement on Thursday.

"The consequences of this decision are largely embedded in our 2018 full year results," Enders said.

Airbus said it would start discussions with unions in the coming weeks regarding the 3,000 to 3,500 jobs potentially affected by the news.

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/02/14/a380-airbus-set-to-scrap-production-of-the-worlds-largest-airliner.html

[forky123]

A bit of a shame as it’s a good aircraft and pretty comfortable especially if I can book my favourite Economy seats. Prefer the Dreamliner though if I had the choice. Will be interesting to see what this does for Airbus wing production in the UK. Will they take the opportunity, with Brexit as well, of moving production elsewhere.

[ggobkk]

big isn't always better...

 

[fedssocr]

I think they have been making plans to move everything to Europe.

I like the A380 a lot. It's so quiet inside and just seems to float along. But obviously there aren't a huge number of them out there. I think I've only flown them on Singapore Airlines, THAI, and Emirates.

My current favorite is the A350. I prefer it over the 787.

[vinapu]

3 hours ago, fedssocr said:

I think they have been making plans to move everything to Europe.

I like the A380 a lot. It's so quiet inside and just seems to float along. But obviously there aren't a huge number of them out there. I think I've only flown them on Singapore Airlines, THAI, and Emirates.

My current favorite is the A350. I prefer it over the 787.

my favorite aircraft is always one which is carrying me to Thailand

[1moRussian]

On 2/15/2019 at 7:01 AM, vinapu said:

my favorite aircraft is always one which is carrying me to Thailand

You need a transocean flight. With Airbus neo and Boeing MAX families, perhaps, we will be flying by them from Russia. With loooong line to the only toilet 

Our S7 already has flights from Novosibirsk to Suvarnabum (before it it was more eastern Irkuts). Should check their prices next time. And maybe a stopover in Novosibirsk? Haven't been there for 15 years... Although a friend of mine moved to Doha working in Qatar Tourism now, perhaps, Qatar Airways will have a chance to see me once more...

Funny thing was with our much advertised MC-21 aircraft project - it happened, that for wings they are using Japanese composite materials made by USA license. Thanks to very friendly Putin's foreign policy, the Japan company stopped delivery. And if no composite wings there is no sense in this aircraft, it will have efficiency of late XX century aircrafts... 

[Guest]

On 2/14/2019 at 7:36 PM, fedssocr said:

I think they have been making plans to move everything to Europe.

I like the A380 a lot. It's so quiet inside and just seems to float along. But obviously there aren't a huge number of them out there. I think I've only flown them on Singapore Airlines, THAI, and Emirates.

My current favorite is the A350. I prefer it over the 787.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Airbus_A380_orders_and_deliveries

[1moRussian]

And looks like Etihad canceled its order for 42 new A350...

[1moRussian]

Avolon, the international aircraft leasing company, issued its 2019 Industry Forecast, titled ‘Buckle Up’. The paper, written by Avolon’s Head of Strategy Dick Forsberg, provides a review of 2018 while offering predictions for the industry in 2019.

Dick Forsberg, Head of Strategy, Avolon, commented:“... Additionally, numerous airline failures over the last year have indicated that full planes are not always cause for celebration. This leads to the conclusion that, although supply and demand is nominally in balance, there are simply too many cheap seats being sold in the market and too few expensive ones..."

I want my cheap seats to SEA  

https://www.avolon.aero/newsroom-and-thoughts/avolon-publishes-2019-outlook-paper

 

[vinapu]

14 hours ago, 1moRussian said:

 

I want my cheap seats to SEA  

 

 

dream on...