Rex
No problem.
I don't think it has been at all grey as to whether the aircraft has been a success for Airbus- it hasn't.
Even the statement by the CFO we talked about earlier simply said the aircraft would break even IN THOSE THREE YEARS- not even suggesting it would make profits to start to offset the enormous development costs.
Now, will it cost Airbus money? Quite possibly not, as Airbus financing has a lot of smoke-n-mirrors EU debt facility, where they secure loans that are only repayable should a project make profits- E.g a direct subsidy in that they are not open to normal commercial risk.
BUT it would be fanciful to think the aircraft will ever make profits for AB.
It doesn't make profits for airlines like Emirates- There ARE no Airlines like Emirates, there is only Emirates! Why else will we end up with more than half of all the airframes they will ever build.
And yes, I believe it makes money for the company at the moment. They got them cheap, and they fill them up with a lot of premium customers going to slot constrained airports- DXB-LHR is freakin' made for the aircraft, as probably is DXB-SYD.
But is there 120 airframes worth of such city pairs?
THAT gets grey.
It also then means, in the near future, we will hugely committed to an aircraft no longer in production, almost the sole customer for spares and with a doubtful after-sales market.
Then there's the 777-X
With it's introduction, the best way to transport those 615 passengers will be with two 777-8 flights, with the added bonus of having 250 more seats to sell.