Their whole case for the A380 has been based on comparing the per seat costs of the A380 versus the 747-400. Well, the 747-400 has been around since 1989. It's 16 years old. Airbus has been able to freeze out interest in a heavy workover of the 747 that would have required a whole new wing, but the fact that Boeing has lots of 787 and 777 technology that can be transferred to the 747 means they can still update the 747 and beat the A380's cost per available seat mile while also having a longer range plane. Even in markets where there is more demand than can be filled by one 747, many airlines are using two or more 777s to allow more flexibility in departure times. The big users of the 747 Advanced will be freight operators who want to haul 130+ tons nonstop from the US to Asia, and passenger airlines that have long distance routes that aren't possible even with ETOPS 207 or ETOPS 240, eg. SYD-AKL-IAH.
