Posted on 11/28/2018 5:23:46 PM PST by EveningStar
“I can’t get no respect,” moaned the late and overweight comedian Rodney Dangerfield. The Airbus A380, largest and heaviest airliner in operation today, could say that too after Air France reportedly will dump half of its A380 fleet—aircraft built and tested at the “hometown” Airbus factory in Toulouse.
Like the quashing of a recent rumor that Lufthansa was on the verge of ordering another 15 A380s, this is another black eye for the world’s largest passenger plane. After all, if France and Germany, the countries that build the A380, don’t want it, who will?
(Excerpt) Read more at forbes.com ...
Click here to view: Highlights in the History of Aviation and Aerospace - The Past, The Present, and The Future:
Please ping me to aviation and aerospace articles. Thank you.
If you want added to or removed from this ping list, please contact EveningStar or Paleo Conservative.
Yes, the Emirates. They are well positioned to still take advantage of a centralized hub system for which the Airbus is very well suited.
I do believe Airbus was originally financed by the French and British governments to compete against Boeing. Wasn’t fair. Good to see they’re getting theirs.
I admire the engineering to build a plane of that size, but I have never thought it was an attractive aircraft. I always viewed it as a flying beluga whale.
I wonder if it can readily be converted to carry bulky freight. Probably not since the floor frames would add to the structural integrity.
The A380 was the quintessential top-down, bureaucratic committee product.
Kind of like the EU itself
It is a little stubby. The 747 is a much sleeker design, imo.
Unlike the 747 the A380 doesn’t seem to have been built for cargo from the get go. Though the collapse of the hub system may see the 747 mostly go away in passenger service that it is such a great cargo hauler means it will be with us for a long, long time still.
In both roles since parts are going to be available.
Massive air freighters, or monster fire retardant bombers. Think of how much one of these babies could drop on a wildfire!
Probably too unwieldy for that application, just passing some gas here...
Limited places it can land and park (i.e. gates).
AS much as I admire the airplane....It’s just too expensive to operate,
(4 engines 6 Landing Gears 22 wheels 20 brakes etc)
Compare that to the 777-300 (2 Engines, 3 Landing Gears, 14 wheels, 12 brakes etc)...Maintaining Airplanes are very expensive and airlines (Especially in the US) prefer twin engine birds.
The new 747-8 is having the same problem again due to maintenance cost.
I've flown the A380 several times...a nice aircraft for sure but I'd bet it's no better than the 747-8.
Love the 747. One of my favorite aircraft of all time, and certainly in that class! A real classic of the genre...it ranks at the top historically with the DC-3, the Constellation, and the 707 lined up behind it.
“Seems to me that the only thing keeping the A380 alive...barely alive...is Emirates”
I recall reading that Emirates placed an order for 40 787s instead of more A380s, adding to the woes of the A380 program.
Must say, wife and I flew to France a few years ago on on Air France A380. We were greatly impressed by the cabin crew’s professionalism getting everyone fed quickly. Those guys had it down to a science. I have flown trans-Atlantic in Business-class where the experience was less pleasant. I would fly Air France again in a minute.
I think I recall having recently read that Emirates ordered at least a few 777s and/or 787s....but I think that the same story stated that they ordered at least a few A380s.I'm sure that wikipedia would have details.
Wikipedia says that Emirates has 55 A380s and 157 777s on order.
An airline executive once said (in an article) that a costly mistake an airline can make is to buy planes that are too large for their needs.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.