Sam Chui recently sat down with H.E. Akbar Al Baker, the CEO of Qatar Airways. The interview touched on many topics, but discussion on the future of the A380 caught my attention. Al Baker is clear: he sees no...
The Airbus A380 With 966 Seats Onboard…
Could an all-economy configuration of the Airbus A380 with nearly 1,000 passengers saved the program? Or is the concept of a 966-seat jet aircraft the stuff nightmares are made of? The All-Economy Stretch A380 With 966 Seats Onboard Andreas...
The Airbus A380, Another Coronavirus Fatality
One of the many ways our travel lives will change going forward is the loss of the Airbus A380 Super Jumbo Jet, all but killed off by coronavirus. If you are considering signing up for a new credit card...
Lufthansa A380 Operations Won’t Return To Frankfurt
Lufthansa has retired seven of its 14 Airbus A380 aircraft in response to COVID-19. Now the carrier has revealed that the A380 will not return to Frankfurt. Lufthansa Faces Same A380 Issues As Other Carriers Carriers around the world...
Why The Air France A380 Retirement Pains Me…
As expected, Air France has accelerated its A380 retirement and will be come the first airline to wholly retire its A380 fleet. That’s sad news in general, but particularly sad news for me. Let me concede at the outset...
Even Emirates May Ground A380 Fleet
When it comes to Airbus A380 operators, there are many airlines. Then there is Emirates, the outlier with over 100 in its fleet. But even Emirates is mulling the grounding of its A380s. Already, we’ve seen Lufthansa, Air France,...
Own A Piece Of The First Airbus A380
Singapore Airlines was the launch customer of the Airbus A380. It also was the first airline to retire an A380. Now you can own a piece of that original aircraft. The A380 is nearly 14 years old. Its maiden...
The Grim Future Of The A380
We know Airbus is stopping A380 production. We also know that airlines are accelerating the retirement of them. But unlike past airframes, there appears to be absolutely no secondary market for them. A Grim Future For A380 Leaseholders I’ve...
Even A Fancy Onboard Shower Or Bar Would Not Have Saved Air France A380
Sir Tim Clark, the President of Emirates, argues that other carriers like Air France blew their chance with the Airbus A380. He’s not wrong, but the reality is a bit more complicated. Sitting down with AirlineRatings, Clark was asked...
Six Reasons Air France Is Retiring A380
Air France will retire its Airbus A380 fleet ahead of schedule for at least six unique reasons. In a wide-ranging interview with Air France-KLM CEO Ben Smith, Skift’s Brian Sumers brought up Air France’s recent decision to retire the...
Air France A380 Retirement Is Hardly A Surprise
As I predicted, Air France will not bother to retrofit its A380 fleet, but instead retire it by 2022. The writing was on the wall. Last November, Air France announced it would return half of its A380 fleet rather...
ANA A380 Business + First Class Award Space Available
ANA is finally releasing some saver award space to Star Alliance partners for its new A380 service between Honolulu and Tokyo Narita. It was always only a matter for time. From the start, the airline said that it would,...
Qatar Airways Accelerates A380 Retirement
Qatar Airways plans to retire its A380 fleet earlier than planned, joining a number of other airlines which do not see a long-term place for the Airbus superjumbo jet. Never one to beat around the bush, Qatar Airways CEO Akbar...
Air France May Retire A380 Even Earlier
Air France may not bother to upgrade its outdated premium cabins seats on the A380. The exorbitant price tag is difficult to justify. But that creates a serious problem for the carrier’s five-year plan and may lead to an...
The World’s Longest And Shortest A380 Flights
What are the world’s longest and shortest Airbus A380 flights? Emirates can lay claim to both of them. World’s Shortest A380 Flight Earlier today, Emirates announced it would be using an A380 for regularly-scheduled service between Dubai and Muscat,...
Why British Airways Turned Down More A380s
Rumors of a British Airways A380 acquisition never materialized. But it was not for lack of effort. Now we know why. In February, I wrote about British Airways’ willingness to purchase more A380s to save the program. At the...
Lufthansa Snubs The A380
Lufthansa’s latest aircraft order comes at the expense of its majestic superjumbo Airbus A380-800. Earlier this week, Lufthansa ordered 20 Boeing 787-9s and 20 additional Airbus A350-900s. But its deal with Airbus came with a caveat. In exchange, Airbus...
The Wall Street Journal Battles The Airbus A380
In a hit-piece entitled Airbus’s Lesson for Young Socialists, a Wall Street Journal column heaps scorn on the Airbus A380 program. The column is by Holman W. Jenkins Jr, a long-time columnist and editorial writer for the Journal. He starts by...
The A380 Is Dead, Long Live The A380
Airbus announced today that it would be shutting the A380 production line in 2021. The move is sadly not a surprise. 17 A380s will still be built, including 14 to Emirates and 3 to ANA. In a written statement,...
British Airways’ Plan To Save The A380 Program
British Airways is willing to buy more Airbus A380s…if the price is right. Last week, we learned that Emirates is exploring switching some of its A380 orders to smaller A350 or A330neo aircraft. The move would likely sound the...
