Well, as someone working for the mob who has ordered 90 of the things, I can assure you that on the right route the A380 is a profitable aircraft-
BUT.....
ONLY if you can fill it with a decent yield, as it's operating costs do not stack up against a large twin-
and ONLY
Because we are getting them VERY cheap- word is we pay around 2/3rds as much for an A380 as we do for a 777- all thanks to the Eurozone taxpayer.
Charlie Fly Away,
Lets have a look at some of your:-
comprehensive and factual piece about a terrific aircraft.
First point-
All A380 operators have publicly reported a very smooth service entry
Both Emirates and Singapore have been publically critical of the Aircrafts dispatch reliability.
The A380 has outstanding fuel efficiency, superior performance, and half the noise…
It has MUCH lower fuel efficiency on a per pax basis than the 777. It cruises M.02 faster, which equates to a few minutes on a typical sector. And "Half the Noise"? Sorry, half the noise of what? You represent yourself as making "Factual" statements, then make an unsupportable, open ended statement like that one.
Yes it is quieter than a 747-400 designed in the mid 80s- how about comparing it to a contemporary aircraft!
With the lowest fuel burn per seat,
NO-IT-DOESN'T, NOT-EVEN-CLOSE!!
To conclude, Importantly, as its early operators have said, the A380 delivers, on every single commitment.
EXCEPT delivery date, dispatch reliability and it's initial fuel predictions (It was billed as a 10T/hr aircraft, it aint!!)
33 aircraft since October 15 2007.
Yep- 33 aircraft in 3 years, on a project that is 2 1/2 years late- Boeing produced 100 747s in its FIRST YEAR of construction.
And lastly:-
The A380 program has attracted 234 firm orders from 17 customers.
Yes, factual, but the inference is that this is somehow a good thing. Almost half those orders are from 1 customer, and without its recent top up, orders laguished at 200 odd for almost three years. Apart from Emirates, the Aircraft has had virtually no new orders since it's first flight.
Break-even was originally quoted at 260, before the delays and compensation payments- now it's not even talked about.
On the backs of European taxpayers, we have a pretty good people mover (though you then have to send a 777 in to pick up the frieght!!) that will be profitable on some routes for some operators. If it doesn't pick up any more customers, there will be around 1/4 as many A380s flying as 747s, with the 747-8- a derivative of a 40 year old design- already having 2/3rds as many sales.
The A380 is not a bad aircraft.
it is NOT some kind of revolution!!