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Old 11th Aug 2014, 17:22
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haughtney1
 
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The litmus test of any commercial aircraft program is simple, is it a commercial success or not? For EADS the 380 has been and will continue to be a financial and commercial disaster, it has however pioneered a few notable technologies for further development on more viable and more likely successful airframes. For the majority of its operators the jury is still out, EK will tell anyone who will listen how wonderful it is, and on the basis of their order book you would have to agree, other operators don't appear to share EK's enthusiasm.
The 777 program was the last Boeing commercial aircraft program that met or exceeded its objectives, it has sold somewhere north of 1100 airframes, it has collectively revolutionized the way airlines have structured their network frequency in both passenger and cargo traffic all whilst being developed from a 767 replacement up to a 747-400 successor. It will continue to be the benchmark on which all other 2 engine wide body airframes are assessed against and it will be around for a long time to come.
On purely a commercial basis, unless something changes drastically the 380 will quickly become a footnote in aviation history, not because its not a good aeroplane or passenger carrier but because it has so far proven to be not versatile enough to appeal to a wide range of airline customers.
The facts are the facts and are available for all to see.
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