The Airbus A380 was made to accommodate more people in one route of flight. Alas, this was also the reason why it ceased. By Valentine’s Day of 2019, the European multinational aerospace company announced that they will stop producing their biggest superjumbo jet ever, the A380, following Emirates’ drawback of orders.
The failure and few reasons behind it
Back in its launched date, Airbus predicted that they could sell 1,200 of their superjumbo jets. However, in the span of a decade, the A380s sold were only 234, NPR said. This figure shows that A380 failed to get everyone—or all carriers’—interest as well as beat the Boeing 747’s existence as the biggest aircraft before it came. Not too far out, Boeing 747 also has a few airlines left operating it.
“Too big” is one of the primary reasons why carriers are not likely pleased with the A380. The aircraft that could carry up to 800 passengers for one-class configuration and 500 people for two-class configurations seemed too impossible to fill up for every flight taken. A vacant seat means a loss, therefore, an airline couldn’t carry much of that struggle.
Another reason is the engines. Richard Anderson, director of the Eagle Flight Research Center at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University on the Popular Science site said that A380’s four engines are what stopped the airlines to purchase it. He commented that jumbo jets with two engines is enough nowadays, as two very large engines will be more fuel-efficient than four.
The leftover A380s
Apparently there are 14 international airlines that operate A380 on their regular commercial flights. The fourteen of them are Air France, ANA, Asiana, British Airways, China Southern, Emirates, Etihad, Korean Air, Lufthansa, Malaysia Airlines, Qantas, Qatar, Singapore Airlines, and Thai Airways. Yet, as due to coronavirus pandemic, a few of these airlines have stopped using Airbus A380 planes.
Quoted from Business Insider, Lufthansa was the first airline to announce on grounding its A380s. Early May, Korean Air and Air France followed Lufthansa decision to ground their entire fleet of A380s, as passengers reduced. Air France even decided to stop using their A380s until 2022. Qantas, too, grounded their 10 out of 14 A380s, put 2 in maintenance, and left 2 for operation. (AP)
