Global Perspectives: Airbus A380

Ten years after its maiden flight, has the giant Airbus A380 yet to find its true place in the skies?

Last week saw the 10th anniversary of the Airbus A380’s maiden flight, but there was no party. Most aerospace analysts would agree that, although not a flop, the A380 hasn’t sold in the numbers Airbus had hoped for and, more importantly, that it needed.

When this behemoth took to the skies, it looked set to revolutionise air travel. Even today, the 478m² of usable cabin space it provides make it 40% bigger than the next-largest commercial passenger plane. Its quiet and smooth operation, along with its upper deck, have led some to call it the ‘cruise ship of the skies’. 

If you have travelled on one, then you are in a minority. Airbus has built and delivered just 152 A380s since the plane entered service. Last year, the company failed to win any new A380 orders at all. Speculation about the aircraft’s future peaked in December, when an Airbus executive let slip that the company was considering discontinuing its production. 

Airbus poured engineering resources into the development of the A380. The company has said it cost £11.4 billion to develop, but experts speculate that the actual cost was at least £3.6 billion higher. 

The aircraft’s sheer size and complexity make it challenging to manufacture. Operating the plane also proved problematic. The A380 is so large that airport terminals and runways have to be modified to accommodate it. Only 44 airports are set up for the aircraft. That is the nub of the problem facing Airbus. 

There were sound reasons for the A380’s creation – principally, that more seats on an aircraft reduce carbon dioxide emissions per head and create capacity at slot-constrained airports. But the aircraft was created with a view that international aviation would evolve into a ‘hub-and-spoke’ arrangement while, instead, secondary airports are growing and accepting more international flights.

The company has an order-book of 161 A380s to build. The A380 is in line for a mid-life update. But do the 317 total orders, against a forecast that the market segment is good for 1,500 very large aircraft, justify the cost of an update?

Instead of the poster child that Airbus wanted, it got an overweight, spoilt toddler. Small surprise that the company is racking its brains about what to do next with a problem child.