Quote:
Originally Posted by Jorge ChemE
If even most of long haul jetliners are twin-engine since Airbus A330 and Boeing 777 became so popular, what's then the point to release Airbus A380, a four-engine airliner?
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The Airbus A300 (first flight 28 October 1972) was a twin engine widebody which was a low cost competitor to the Boeing 747 ( first flight February 9, 1969) . A total of 561 A300s were delivered, but it was severely limited in size and range compared to a B747.
The Airbus A330 (first flight 2 November 1992) was a significant improvement over the A300. The current longest commercial route on an A330 is Buenos Aires to Rome-Fiumicino which is 6,926 statute miles (14 hr 25 min) on Aerolíneas Argentinas. It is only 11% longer than the nonstop route Aerolíneas Argentinas established in August 1967 in a Boeing 707 service between Buenos Aires and Madrid with a flight time of 12 hours. The A330 may eventually surpass the B747 in deliveries.
Airbus developed it's first four engine jet with the Airbus A340 (first flight 25 October 1991) as twin engine jets at the time could not pursue the ultra long range routes.
The number of air passengers was increasing at a very rapid rate from 1970 to 2000, and in particular in 1978 in the US after the airlines were deregulated. In the early 1990's the two manufacturers essentially reversed their fundamental vision. Boeing saw the future as more economical twin engine aircraft while Airbus looked at overcrowded hub airports and felt there would be a market for up to 700 ultra large jets that could only be powered by four engines.
Particularly in the USA, the tragedy of 9-11 followed by the economic turndown that began in 2007 permanently killed the Airbus vision. Airbus was also counting heavily on Japan and China embracing the A380. Japanese airlines have never taken delivery of an A380 although three have since been ordered. China Southern Airlines ordered 5 A380s in 2005, which were delivered in 2011 but the plane fell victim to larger trade disputes between the EU and China.
A Boeing 777-300 can actually carry 550 passengers in a single class configuration, but only Japanese airlines have put 500 seats in their domestic configuration. Although and A380 can carry up to 853 passengers in a single class configuration, the fuel per passenger is much higher than a fully loaded B777-300.
Even though the price of fuel has dropped considerably, and passenger loads are increasing again, most analysts feel it is too late for the A380 to recover. Many analysts feel that the A380 simply came a decade to early, and that if the companies had a crystal ball that you could design a four engine aircraft to seat over 800 people and it would be profitable if you used technology that came a decade later. But Airbus has now lost so much money, that they are not inclined to develop a new engine version.
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It's important to know that Airbus never dreamed that the A380 would displace the B777 or the A330 or any other twin engine aircraft. They simply believed that there would be a place for it in the fleets of the world to connect the busiest and largest mega hubs.
It's interesting to note that British Airways never considered putting one of the A380's on the London Heathrow to New York JFK route, which is the busiest trans Atlantic route. The competition among businessmen requires the most number of options for times to take off. Instead British Airways uses the A380 on routes where it normally only flies only a few (or one) plane per day. In these cases the biggest possible plane is the most economical to fly.
British Airways A380 flights destinations from & to London
- Boston
- Los Angeles
- Miami
- San Francisco
- Washington
- Vancouver
- Hong Kong
- Johannesburg
- Singapore
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The most successful configuration for the A380 has been all premium class in the upper deck and economy in the lower deck. Although this configuration is not the most efficient, it gives premium class passengers an even stronger illusion of exclusivity as they often board from their own deck and they have free run of the deck to go to the lounge and the bar. As such, the sale of business and first class seats has been stronger than on the B777.
Korea and Singapore are the only Asian countries that have adopted the aircraft in large numbers, and, so far, Singapore is returning the aircraft at the end of their initial 10 year lease. Emirates has them on 12 year leases, and has always stated that they have no intention of renewing their leases. Their lease price is high enough that the return to the lease companies after 12 years is satisfactory (if not fantastic).
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