A380: Airbus eyes private buyers

DH News Service, New Delhi via the Deccan Herald ^ | Tuesday, May 3, 2005 | B S Arun

[Paleo Conservative]

According to sources in the company, an Indian airline has asked for a plane with an all-economy configuration, which means a carrying capacity of 850.

Airbus Industries may have lost to its American rival Boeing in the race to sell its aircraft to Air-India, but the European company is seriously pursuing private airlines in India, pitching the biggest passenger aircraft ever built, the A380.

Senior officials in Airbus Industrie told Deccan Herald that the company is in serious talks with at least one such carrier which may buy the super-jumbo sometime next year.

Refusing to disclose the name of the airline, Mr Nigel Harwood, Airbus Vice-President, Sales (India and South Asia), said: “There are several requests for the A380 worldwide and in India one domestic carrier has expressed interest in purchasing it. It will have an all-economy configuration, which means the aircraft will have 850 seats. It will fly in the domestic sector. We are also working with the Airports Authority of India to prepare Indian airports to receive A380s.”

Mr Harwood’s statement points to the likelihood that the new Indian buyer would be a budget airline, a carrier other than Indian Airlines, Jet Airways and Air Sahara. The budget airlines, apart from Air Deccan, which are likely to take off in the next year include Kingfisher Airlines, SpiceJet, Magic Air, Go Air, Air One and Yamuna Airlines. As of now, Deccan and Kingfisher, which have asked for Airbus aircraft, have not included A380 on their shopping list. SpiceJet has favoured an all-Boeing fleet.

The double-decker A380, which last week successfully completed its initial test flight at Toulouse, its manufacturing base in France, will start commercial flights from 2006 when Singapore Airlines receives the first of the $285-million aircraft. Airbus has 154 orders for the 560 ton plane from leading airlines like Lufthansa, Virgin and Air France; Emirates Air tops the list with an order for 43 aircraft.

Airports gear up

While airports around the world, including Heathrow in London, JFK in New York, Los Angeles, Tokyo, Seoul, Hong Kong, Bangkok, Singapore, Frankfurt, are upgrading to welcome the A380, Indian airports will have to gear up too.

Singapore Airlines is expected to fly A380 to either Mumbai or Delhi late next year, making it mandatory for AAI to upgrade these airports.

AAI Chairman K Ramalingam said in Chennai on Sunday that his organisation would take up work at the four international airports in the metropolitan cities to handle A380 jets.

The A380s need exclusive parking bays, strengthening of taxiing tracks and adequate space for the mighty 79.9 metre wing span. “AAI has received written requests from various foreign carriers, especially those having a large presence at Indian airports, such as Singapore Airlines, Emirates Airlines and Lufthansa,” Mr Ramalingam said.

Also, AAI must take care of what happens inside the terminal: check-in space, baggage handling and security to service up to 850 passengers. For international terminals it will also have to provide space and increase manpower at the customs and immigration counters.

[Gunrunner2]

Yes. . .the ramps have to be re-done to accommodate the stress and the terminals have to be re-designed to accept A380 parking at the terminals. All at taxpayer expense.

And here's something else:

850 people from one jet show up at passport control---AT THE SAME TIME. Think about this for a moment.

You may have the same number of people being processed in any given 24-hr period BUT you will have literally thousands (more than one A-380) being processed at the SAME TIME and there will be the same number of passport control agents manning the same number of kiosks. . .making life hell for travelers. . .a mere 1/2 hour wait at passport control now will become hours.

A-380. . .a nightmare come true.

[Gunrunner2]

Wow. . .I should have read your post before posting mine. . .with 850 passengers arriving on one jet, let alone two, and you will have riots in passport control.

[Gunrunner2]

>>I spent five years in the Air Force and I hate to fly."

Hmmm. . .there is an obvious question there but I just can't seem to get a handle on it. . .now, what would that be. . .?

;-)

[NavyCanDo]

850 people would be like sitting in a crowded movie theater - for 6, 8, 9, 10, hours of the flight.

Not for Me.....

[Eric in the Ozarks]

I was in Memphis overnight a couple weeks ago at a hotel near the airport. FedEx DC-10s light up at 3 am. I thought I was back in the Twin Cities.

[Yo-Yo]

FedEx is planning to buy 10 of the monsters, but doesn't have enough traffic on any lanes to support it. Maybe with a lot of growth, they could use a handful, but my guess is that it was done because

They have plenty of traffic. China - US.

[N. Theknow]

The A380s need exclusive parking bays, strengthening of taxiing tracks and adequate space for the mighty 79.9 metre wing span. “AAI has received written requests from various foreign carriers, especially those having a large presence at Indian airports, such as Singapore Airlines, Emirates Airlines and Lufthansa,” Mr Ramalingam said.

Also, AAI must take care of what happens inside the terminal: check-in space, baggage handling and security to service up to 850 passengers. For international terminals it will also have to provide space and increase manpower at the customs and immigration counters.

Anybody know how/if these costs will be reflected in landing fees?

Will airlines have to pay more for landing one of these aircrapt and might airports try to establish fees that incorporate the needs of the A380 into all the other landings so the A380 fees aren't relatively higher?

[buccaneer81]

Imagine: a 12-hour flight on a plane with 849 other people, it takes you 20 minutes to get off the plane, 10 minutes to get to customs, three hours to get through customs, and two hours searching for your baggage.

You're right, I'd rather drive to Australia ;-) Seriously, the market is in Boeing's favor. The A380 will only fly the true cattle drive routes like Bombay-London and Riyadh-Paris.

Atlanta refuses to upgrade for the A380 and it looks like Chicago-O'Hare is headed in the same direction. The only airports committed to upgrades are San Francisco, JFK, Miami and LAX.

[patience+plumpudding]

I do understand the Boeing concept of launching a product that enables airlines to establish more direct connections.

But I don't see that's a black and white competition to a product that optimizes costs for existing demands that are likely to grow.

If India and China continue to expand their economies, the number of traveling passengers will increase while the price for oil will increase, too. Both in very steep slopes.

I don't have a 'cattle train' or 'logistics disaster' feeling thinking of the super jumbo. Imagine 1000 passengers traveling from A to B. Do you want to handle one or two planes at a time ?

And do you feel more like cattle in a train of one wagon or in a train of 1000 wagons ?

Customers are not only passenger carriers but also logistic companies such as UPS and FedEx. If they have the amount of cargo to fill the big birds a more efficient plane in terms of fuel/kg is what they have to order.

If the decision makers of the Airports figures out, that they will have the chance to grow by offering their customers the possibility to handle super jumbos yielding a higher turn over of passengers or freight or loosing turn over to other hubs otherwise, they will invest if they can. Hopefully not with tax payers money - that would certainly be a distortion of the free market.