With the launch of A-380 super jumbo in 2007, Airbus finally ended the Boeing’s 37-year dominance of very large passenger aircraft, Boeing 747.
But the A-380 legacy did not last long, as Airbus announced in February 2019 that the production of the A-380 would cease in 2021.
Now, the scrapping of the two ex-Singapore Airlines Airbus A-380 began at Tarbes Lourdes airport in France. These are the first two aircraft that entered service with Singapore Airlines in October 2007.
When the A-380 program was launched, Airbus anticipated orders for 1,200 jets to cover the production cost and make profits. Unfortunately, Airbus secured orders for only 290 jets, and delivered 235 as of March 2019.
Emirates, the largest customer of A-380 with an order of 162 jets, reduced the number to 123 A-380 aircraft in favor of Airbus A-350-1000.
A-380 failed to attract customers, as it became expensive to operate with 4 engines, while newer models comes with 2 engines delivering close to same thrust.
Also A-380 was developed with the view of Hub and Spoke business model, but the model has been vanishing in airline business as newer models can fly directly for more than 17 hours, virtually connect cities anywhere in the world.
The sad reality is that for now, the over sized airliner decorating the skies is over.
News Inflight. com / ABC Flash Point News 2019.
