Is there a market for the 380?
I have no interest in starting a Boeing v Airbus war but I am interested in knowing what you all think about a current demand of any aircraft larger than a 747. Although I am not in the airline industry common sense would seem to say that the future of the airline industry is not number of souls but speed. This seems to me to be where the future lies.
Airbus is promising an awful lot to those who have current orders on the new plane. First, the double deck, which in 1968/69 Boeing already deemed unfavourable with the authorities for both emergency egress issues as well as gate docking. Second, they talk about a "waterfall", work-out gym and duty free shops. Wouldn't this be a CG and weight concern having passengers (and water) moving all over the plane? Not to mention the changes that airports would once again have to make to allow for a larger wing span than the 747 and 777.
I'm not even sure that pre-2001 this plane would have a market. My father is a 747 pilot who claims the bird is almost never full. He has hauled pax to Hong Kong from London with less than 400 pax. It would seem that after 2001 there is even less of a demand for larger. Subsonic planes look to be the way of the future and everything that Airbus is giving us is just pie in the sky. With so many of the larger airlines having problems with showing a profit and the smaller airlines doing well this would seem to confirm my doubts. What do you think?
Cheers!