I don't see any reason why the A380 wont be a great success. Airbus seems to be in a good position. I've seen the figures and 250 A380 sales does seem to be a realistic break-even point. Airbus has been very clever with their finances. The highly profitable single aisle program has already paid for most of the research and development costs. The sudden increase in demand for the A320 in the no-frills sector has helped to cushion the cash demands of the A380. Government grants have been very influential, especially in the building of facilities. Then consider all these new buildings Airbus have built to house the A380. Many of them are so efficient and environmentally friendly that they almost pay for themselves. Then lets look at modern technology, the use of machines and robots and new manufacturing techniques have led to massive cost savings, both in labour costs and in lead-time. The use of advanced auto-cad and computer simulation has made the A380 the quickest and cheapest aircraft Airbus has ever designed. Then Airbus managed to win the tanker deal, which is again mainly profit. Then the management team decided they were going to save 1.5 billion Euros in cost savings by 2006, and they seem to be on track for doing that. Finally, the biggest financial gain has been the clever idea of risk sharing. The manufacturers and suppliers of the majority of components are effectively providing the first 10 sets of aircraft parts for free, just to be a part of the A380 program.
So, finally I get to my point. If the A380 gamble pays off, which I personally am sure it will, and then after 250 A380's have been sold, Airbus will start making massive profits. (Think how many A320's you would have to sell to make the same profit as 1 A380) Now, with all that spare cash lying around a few years from now, Airbus will be able to start considering its next major project. And I personally believe that somewhere in the deep dark corners of Airbus there is a secret team, probably in the old Concorde office, coming up with a design for a super efficient, supersonic aircraft and in 10 - 20 years time, just maybe Airbus will have the market and the money to finance this program. And I reckon we'll all be still sat at our computers discussing with random strangers whether we think it will work or not!!!!!
As for Boeing, well the time will come for the 7E7 and looking to the future, more aircraft on more routes with more people, flying more often is only a good thing, especially for us regulars on this site!
Happy Landings