Ride The Airbus A380 (While You Still Can)

Above, a Boeing 777 gets ready for a flight to Japan. Airlines opted to buy fuel-efficient
planes such as the Boeing 777 and 787 instead of the Airbus A380. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Back around ten years ago, Airbus Industries introduced their gigantic passenger jet, the A380. The double-decker plane was so huge, it even dwarfed the old reliable Boeing 747. The A380 was touted as the "wave of the future" in travel.

Times are different now.

According to India Times:

In 2007 the first commercial flight of a much hyped A380 took off from Singapore Changi airport en route to Sydney with excited passengers ready to be a part of aviation history. It was more than what they expected, especially those flying first and business class. After Singapore Airlines, other airliners associated with luxury began adding the jumbo jet to their fleets in the hopes of carrying more passengers aboard long haul flights, thereby reducing the number of take offs per day. 

Today, the A380 is on the verge of extinction just like the remarkable Boeing 747 that has been in service since the '60s. But why?

In the beginning, Airbus expected to sell about 1,200 units of the A380. To date, only 318 have been ordered.

I have only seen one A380, and that was while I was on the Narita Express heading to Narita International Airport in 2010. That thing was huge. It was so huge that I would be very reluctant to get on board.

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