The Demise of the Airbus A380

Above, the Airbus A380 I flew to Japan in 2015. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

The much-ballyhooed Airbus A380 is on its last leg as a passenger airliner. It turned out to be nothing less than a colossal flop.

The American Spectator wrote:

The other week Airbus SE announced the demise of its 380 aircraft, after 13 years in service. Launched with about $4 billion in government developmental aid in 2000, the program was from the start a vanity project, intended to show Americans that Europe could build a commercial aircraft that would be bigger, faster, and better than the Boeing 747, which has been in service for 50 years. 

Indeed, the 380 was the largest airplane in the world, a double decker with 550 seats. So large in fact that airports could not accommodate it without modifying their runways and gates. So large that it became harder and harder to fill as passengers decided they’d rather take direct flights to smaller regional airports rather than having to transfer to a connecting flight at one of the major hubs. 

And it was so impractically designed that the deficiency of passengers on a flight could not be compensated for by taking on more cargo, as is the case with the 747. This lack of foresight also means that these behemoths cannot be repurposed. They must be sold for scrap.

I flew on the Airbus A380 with Singapore Airlines in 2015 to Japan and back. I found the seating in Economy to be sorely lacking in leg room. It was very uncomfortable. I was not impressed. In contrast, I was always comfortable in a Boeing 747.

To read more, go here.