Oversize Expectations for the Airbus A380
Boeing were never really convinced that there was a significant market for a VLCC. They actually contributed to a feasibility study with Airbus, but withdrew, concluding that they would never recoup the development costs of such an aircraft. In fact A and B had divergent views of the future of air travel, with Airbus deciding that the future lay with high capacity hub to hub traffic, while Boeing were convinced that point to point flights were the way to go. Obviously Boeing left the field clear for Airbus to introduce the A380, although it’s interesting to note that Airbus were subsequently panicked into developing the A350.
Will the A380 programme ever break even? I’m really not sure, especially when even the best customer for the aircraft is requesting a more efficient variant. If it does, I don’t think it will ever be a money spinner for Airbus.
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Interesting discussion about using hubs. Two years ago I used Qatar to get to Bangkok from Heathrow, and of course that meant a change in Doha. The same on the return. I hated it. I felt that I was going back 30 or more years when all traffic to the Far East had to stop somewhere in the Gulf generally speaking, since the aircraft couldn't fly non stop to places like Bangkok, Singapore, Hong Kong. So, whilst I am happy to use the Gulf carriers and QF to get to Australia, regardless of price I want nonstop to the Far East. Indeed I've used EVA twice and SQ to get to Bangkok and Singapore respectively since that QR trip I've mentioned. A personal view I know but the airlines I use are those with the shortest trip time.
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Good plane, good effort, commercially the answer would lie in the order chart. If someone has a comparative between 380 350 787 747-8 777 new orders in 2014 it should answer a lot of questions about the commercial viability as seen by the industry of hub and spoke and large vs medium as well as point to point....
As far as which is a better aircraft my vote goes to the Concorde, but then financially it was a lemon and never scaled!
As far as which is a better aircraft my vote goes to the Concorde, but then financially it was a lemon and never scaled!
Paxing All Over The World
I think the answer to the success of the 380 will not be clear for another 10 years. When the 747 was introduced it was the only one and it changed air travel - but that was by no means clear at the outset. We also have a totally different world situation now.
On the hub/direct issue we also have a choice and that is the old money:time equation. If you have a family of four on holiday, or you have a retired couple with a bit of money to spare, or if you are a biz client - you will travel accordingly.
It's like the LCCs - FR have a continual supply of new clients who are young and with no money, so they will prioritise money (yes, FR have other clients too!) and that is repeated across every carrier and route.
Let's just wait ten years. has anyone got a graph of the sales of the 747 from lauch? I'll bet a lot of folks thought it was a Turkey, or a Dodo.
On the hub/direct issue we also have a choice and that is the old money:time equation. If you have a family of four on holiday, or you have a retired couple with a bit of money to spare, or if you are a biz client - you will travel accordingly.
It's like the LCCs - FR have a continual supply of new clients who are young and with no money, so they will prioritise money (yes, FR have other clients too!) and that is repeated across every carrier and route.
Let's just wait ten years. has anyone got a graph of the sales of the 747 from lauch? I'll bet a lot of folks thought it was a Turkey, or a Dodo.
