Airbus A380, Once the Future of Aviation, May Cease Production
“As smaller, more efficient planes flood the market,” he said in an email, “new city
pairs are being created almost every day, killing the case for larger aircraft.”
Airbus did not book any orders for the A380 last year, the company said on Monday.
Only so many planes can land at an airport in any given day, so Airbus reasoned
that planes carrying more people would allow airports to absorb more passengers.
The admission by John Leahy, the company’s chief operating officer, was the latest indication
that Airbus miscalculated more than two decades ago when it bet that clogged runways would create demand for larger planes that could deliver more people with fewer landing slots.
“The A380 was better suited to 1995, before air routes fragmented,” said Richard Aboulafia,
vice president of analysis at Teal Group Corp., a consulting firm in Fairfax, Va.
Airbus said Monday that it has not given up on the plane, but acknowledged that it is endangered.
