That's a big plane, alright.
Posted on 12/07/2003 8:46:28 PM PST by blam
Japan refuses to fly Airbus superjumbo
Andrew Clark in Tokyo
Monday December 8, 2003
The Guardian (UK)
Japan's two international airlines, which are the world's biggest carriers outside America, have snubbed the new A380 superjumbo in a crushing blow to the European manufacturer Airbus. All Nippon Airways (ANA) and Japan Airlines (JAL) are the leading users of the Boeing 747 jumbo jet, which the A380 is intended to replace, and are regarded as a make-or-break market for the new aircraft.
As recently as last week, senior Airbus executives were saying they expected to sell the A380 to Japan, claiming that the plane could be packed with 900 seats on busy domestic routes between Tokyo and Kyoto or Sapporo.
But the two airlines have resisted intense pressure from Airbus to sign up for the A380. ANA's chief executive, Yoji Ohashi, this weekend ruled out a purchase before 2010, saying he intended to stick to the company's existing long-haul fleet of Boeing 747s and 777s.
Keisuke Okada, ANA's corporate planning director, criticised the design of the superjumbo, saying larger aircraft created too many problems at airports: "Already, when I take a ride on a 747, I have to wait a long time to board - it's a crazy stress." He said baggage handling was frequently "chaos" when jumbo jets, which carry more than 560 people on domestic routes in Japan, arrived en masse.
Experts said failure in Japan leaves the Toulouse-based manufacturer with an uphill struggle to break even on the A380 - to the dismay of the British government, which provided £500m of "soft loans" for the project which are only repayable if the plane makes a profit.
Andrew Doyle, an aviation expert at Flight International, said: "The A380 programme can't be judged a success without sales to Japanese airlines. It's still possible Airbus could make a return on the A380 without them, but it makes it extremely difficult."
The first A380s are due to roll off the production line within three years. The wings are being manufactured in Broughton, Wales.
Airbus has 129 orders for the double-decker aircraft, including deals with Virgin Atlantic and Air France, but says it needs 250 to break even. No American carriers have signed up.
The bosses of 15 carriers in the world's biggest airline partnership, the Star Alliance, met in Tokyo last week to discuss the outlook for the industry.
With mergers still prohibited outside Europe by national ownership laws, the airlines are planning closer integration within the alliance to cut costs. They plan to set up a company based in the US next year to buy aviation fuel collectively, securing discounts.
Star Alliance carriers, which include BMI British Midland, also want to work together in negotiating with aircraft manufacturers such as Airbus, Embraer and Boeing. In a pilot project, four members - Air Canada, Lufthansa, Austrian Airlines and SAS - are jointly negotiating the specifications for a new range of 70 to 110-seat regional jets with aircraft makers, in the hope that by agreeing standard fittings they can secure a cheaper price.
Star Alliance's chief executive, Jaan Albrecht, said he ultimately envisaged joint ownership of aircraft between alliance members.
That's a big plane, alright.
Boeing makes a great product, so does Airbus, got friends that pilot them both. Airbii are assembled in France, but are made up of parts from nearly a dozen european countries, so france bashing on this don't work.
Now, double the length of that walk. Double it again to allow for all the irritable souls on the upper deck, all trying to crowd their way thru ONE door in the front.
I'll pass, thank you.
BTW, one of those goes down to a shoulder fired missile and it's going to kill a LOT of people.
Time to cancel or crank up the 7E7? Does anyone have a picture of what the 7E7 will look like?
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