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Japan Refuses To Fly Airbus Superjumbo
The Guardian (UK) ^ | 12-8-2003 | Andrew Clark

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.


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Japan; News/Current Events; US: Washington
KEYWORDS: airbus; boeing; fly; japan; refuses; superjumbo
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1 posted on 12/07/2003 8:46:29 PM PST by blam
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To: blam

That's a big plane, alright.

2 posted on 12/07/2003 8:50:28 PM PST by xrp
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To: blam
Everyone with eyes has seen what dealing with the french leads to, the Japanese are too smart to fall for it.
3 posted on 12/07/2003 8:51:34 PM PST by McGavin999
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To: blam
Good news for Boeing. First Condit goes, and now this. Maybe things will turn around for them.
4 posted on 12/07/2003 8:53:03 PM PST by Cicero (Marcus Tullius)
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To: xrp
I don't have any idea what the motivation is for declining this beast, but all I can think about is "man, what a terrorist target."
5 posted on 12/07/2003 8:53:05 PM PST by alancarp (Here's wishing I could think about something else...)
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To: blam
Is the A380 made with the in flight detachable vertical fin?
6 posted on 12/07/2003 8:54:53 PM PST by teletech (Have we dug up Saddam yet?)
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To: alancarp
All I can tell you is that the common phrase among engineers is : If it ain't Boeing, I ain't Going.
Airbus is a bad product.
7 posted on 12/07/2003 8:55:36 PM PST by Galtoid
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To: McGavin999
Actually the new Airbus A340-500 just went into service last month, it is capable of flying longer routes than any other plane. Singapore is gonna start non stops from Singapore to NY and LAX, and you can expect nonstops from Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur in the near future. That is a good thing, it shaves about 2-3 hours off the flights now. I look forward to it, I've done too many 20 hour days changing planes in Taiwan.

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.

8 posted on 12/07/2003 8:57:45 PM PST by Central Scrutiniser (Which is the most universal human characteristic? Fear or Laziness?)
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To: alancarp
Sadly that's the first thing I thought about too.
9 posted on 12/07/2003 8:58:09 PM PST by CindyDawg
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To: Galtoid
I just saw that China and Russia are allowing flights over their territory now. You can fly a 777 direct from NY to hongkong via going over the north pole.
10 posted on 12/07/2003 9:02:02 PM PST by longtermmemmory (Vote!)
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To: blam
Everyone knows how long it takes to board/disembark from an aircraft, especially from the "cheap seats" in the tail when there's only one exit at the front.

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.

11 posted on 12/07/2003 9:03:05 PM PST by ZOOKER
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To: Central Scrutiniser
Too bad they got mixed up with france. They should know better.

BTW, one of those goes down to a shoulder fired missile and it's going to kill a LOT of people.

12 posted on 12/07/2003 9:03:37 PM PST by McGavin999
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To: Cicero
"Good news for Boeing. First Condit goes, and now this. Maybe things will turn around for them."

Time to cancel or crank up the 7E7? Does anyone have a picture of what the 7E7 will look like?

13 posted on 12/07/2003 9:04:38 PM PST by blam
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To: Galtoid
I don't know about the quality of Airbus planes, but I don't think I want to trust something assembled in France...not trying to bash the French here - but if this thing was assembled in Germany, the U.K., or in the USA, I wouldn't have a problem.
14 posted on 12/07/2003 9:05:31 PM PST by Norse
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To: blam
Buy American!


15 posted on 12/07/2003 9:05:46 PM PST by JoJo Gunn (Help control the Leftist population - have them spayed or neutered. ©)
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To: McGavin999
I wonder how many orders the french were counting on from Saddam.
16 posted on 12/07/2003 9:05:57 PM PST by mseltzer (Can anyone give my cat a good home? Really! Please?)
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To: McGavin999
Good point about the shoulder fired missle - that would be a catastrophy...and it could happen. I think that's what happened to TWA flight 800 in NYC in retrospect...
17 posted on 12/07/2003 9:06:51 PM PST by Norse
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To: blam
Here you go:


18 posted on 12/07/2003 9:07:29 PM PST by Prince Charles
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To: blam

19 posted on 12/07/2003 9:08:37 PM PST by Johnny_Cipher
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To: blam
picture of what the 7E7 will look like?


20 posted on 12/07/2003 9:09:26 PM PST by Nick Danger (With sufficient thrust, pigs fly just fine.)
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