Originally Posted by
Andy_S
Quote:
Originally Posted by
glob99 
... but maybe upgauging to A321, and other stretched narrow bodies, has a greater effect in increasing airport capacity.
Absolutely. And the advocates for the A380 always seem to overlook this.
There are many, many options for upsizing aircraft before you need to consider the A380.
There are. But the opponents of the A380 always seem to overlook the existence of slot-constrained airports. Heathrow has already been mentioned: yes, it's just one airport but, despite Brexit, it's still a very important one. If you're a long-haul operator into such an airport, it's surely attractive to bring in 500 pax with one slot rather than 200 or so. And which aircraft would a long-haul pax prefer to be in for six or eight hours: A380 or A321? I know which I'd prefer, given that choice. Given a wider choice for long-haul I like both B777 and B747 (at least in business class) but the sheer carrying capacity of the A380 has to be attractive, and it seems to work for Emirates.