Anyone who’s flown within the US in recent years has most probably been on board a Boeing 737 or an Airbus A320, the two best selling commercial airplanes in the world. If you’ve traveled internationally, you may have stepped aboard a Boeing 777 or an Airbus A330 and may not have been able to tell much difference in their design. However, one commercial aircraft dwarfs the competition: the Airbus A380. This double-decker giant can accommodate 555 passengers across three classes and is only flown by a handful of airlines across the world, most notably Emirates, the Dubai-based airline. But, in early 2019, Airbus announced they would be ceasing production of the largest commercial airliner in the world by the end of 2021. And in December of that year, it did indeed deliver its last plane to Emirates. What made the Airbus A380 so impressive and what led to the end of its production run just 14 years after its introduction?
Airbus was founded in 1970 and in that very same year, the Boeing 747 started service with Pan American World Airways. Most agreed that this new and larger aircraft was the the epitome of what a commercial airliner should be and it quickly became known as "The Queen of the Skies.” Like the later A380, it sported a double-decker layout, but its capacity was just 237 passengers in a three-class configuration. By the mid-1980s though, Boeing introduced the 747-400 which increased the passenger count to 420, thereby setting a new benchmark for commercial aviation. But, when a new record is set, someone normally comes from behind attempting to surpass it.
And that’s when Airbus entered the picture. In 1987, it debuted the A330 and A340 aircraft, which would eventually be delivered to airlines a few years later. At most, these two planes could carry 295 passengers and while the company didn’t think they would replace Boeing’s popular 747s, Airbus believed they could cut into that lower tier, as Boeing was phasing out its earlier 747 models. Throughout the late 1980s and into the 1990s, Airbus continued to deliver models altering its existing A340 into an airplane a bit more substantial to truly make a dent in that market. In 2002, it introduced the A340-600, which could accommodate 378 passengers. Airbus also began studies for an aircraft even larger than the 747-400.
After more than a decade since the concept was first broached, the A380 was given the go ahead by the Airbus supervisory board in December of 2000. The decision was made not to name this new project the A350, which would have been the next logical step in Airbus’ naming practice. Not only was this large jump in numbers a testament to the size increase of the new plane, but the “8” was used to symbolize the notion of a double-decker style, as the number is two identical shapes stacked on top of one another. But, just because the project got the green light at the turn of the century didn't mean it immediately took to the skies. The initial development cost of the A380 was $10.7 billion, according to the New York Times, but in 2004 it was reported that the A380 had gone over budget and would cost an additional $2 billion. Two years later, Airbus had to pump an additional $6 billion due to production mishaps and electrical problems that delayed the introduction for several years.
With all the drama behind it, Airbus finally delivered its first A380 to Singapore Airlines in October of 2007 when it made its maiden voyage from Singapore to Sydney, Australia. The aircraft had officially overtaken the Boeing 747 to become the largest commercial aircraft in the world. It's one thing to manufacture the largest aircraft however, but it's another to get airlines to buy what’s been created. A plane as large as the A380 was never going to be part of every fleet across the globe, but it did have its specialty markets. Middle Eastern and Asian carriers like Emirates, Qatar Airways and Singapore Airlines were the primary markets, but European carriers like Air France, British Airways, and Lufthansa also ordered a handful of A380s. By 2014 though, order numbers had dropped dramatically with only a handful being placed each year. By early 2019, Airbus had only received 313 orders for the “superjumbo” in total and announced the end of production would occur in December of 2021 with the final plane being delivered to Emirates. Despite the excitement the plane generated on its introduction, the excitement wasn’t sustainable. Its death knell came with the onset of the pandemic and the collapse of worldwide travel when most carriers were forced to mothball the giant aircraft. With an airplane costing as much as this one did (roughly $445.6 million), the company needed better sales numbers to justify its continued production. Legions of AvGeeks were disappointed to hear the news, including me as I’ve had the pleasure of flying the A380 many times in the forward cabins of British Airways, Singapore Airlines and Emirates and always enjoyed the experience.
Airbus went back to its original naming structure in developing the A350, another wide-body aircraft to compete with the Boeing 787 Dreamliner. This aircraft is much less expensive to produce and has proved quite popular with global carriers. Approximately 1,277 orders have been received with 592 delivered to 36 different global airlines and 685 planes currently on backorder.
Just because the Airbus A380 is no longer in production doesn’t mean you can’t find yourself on board what is still the largest commercial airplane in the sky. Although Air France has retired their nine aircraft, the A380 still makes over 1,600 weekly flights around the world with 10 global air carriers, including Asiana, All Nippon, British Airways, Emirates, Etihad, Korean Air, Lufthansa, Qatar, Qantas and Singapore Airlines. Of course, like the 747, you won’t be able to fly on these A380s forever. Emirates, the biggest owner of the aircraft type, has already announced a plan to phase them out of their fleet over the next 15 years. The oldest A380 out there is not yet 20 years old, so there are still many miles left for the “superjumbo” to fly and it’s simply a matter of finding the right airline and the right route at the right time. Then hop aboard.
Until next time…safe travels.
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