THE FALL OF AIRBUS A380 and its competitors

1. THE FALL OF AIRBUS A380
The Airbus A380 is the world's largest passenger
airliner, a wide-body aircraft manufactured by
Airbus. Airbus studies started in 1988 and the
project was announced in 1990 to challenge the
dominance of the Boeing 747 in the long haul
market. The A3XX project was presented in 1994;
Airbus launched the €9.5 billion ($10.7 billion)
A380 program on 19 December 2000.

2. What went wrong?
• Airbus’ Global Market Forecast from the year 2000
predicted that 1,235 “very large aircraft” would be
delivered to customers between 2000 and 2019. But as
of January 2019, Airbus had received 313 firm orders
and delivered just 234 aircraft.
• The firm’s lofty target was swiftly undermined by the
arrival of more fuel-friendly offerings such as Airbus’s
own A350 or Boeing’s 787 Dream liner.

3. • The smaller aircraft were lighter and could be run
more efficiently as the expectation of a steep rise
in passenger travel failed to materialize. It was
also found that very few routes could operate the
A380 at full capacity.
• Timing does seem to have been a problem. As the
A380 hit the world’s runways, a worldwide
liberalization of flight routes known as “Open
Skies” was underway. This allowed airlines to
downsize their planes and fly more regularly.

4. • Added to that is the rise of the ultra long-haul
flight. Airlines have asked both Boeing and Airbus
to come up with planes that can haul passengers
from one side of the world without stopping.