Airbus is reportedly drafting plans to wind down its A380, leaving two aerospace analysts divided about whether the superjumbo jet can survive — and how.
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Airbus A380’s fate up in the air…
Tag: A380 (Page 6 of 6)
Malaysia Airlines will be swapping out its Airbus A380 aircraft for newer, smaller, and more efficient A350 aircraft. The Airbus A380 aircraft are huge, and Malaysia Airlines has been unable to fill all those seats due to the economic strife that it has suffered over the last few years. It’s so much easier to fill a smaller 300 seat aircraft than a larger 500 seat one. The airline has been focusing more on becoming a smaller, regional based air carrier, and reducing its longer haul routes. It will continue to operate its flagship Kuala Lumpur – London route, which will switch over from the A380 to the A350 in January, 2018.
The airline had 6 A380 aircraft, and will wind up replacing them with 6 A350-900’s from Air Lease Corporation. The first of the six was delivered to Malaysia Airlines on November 30, 2017. The airline will be the first A350-900 operator to offer First Class on the aircraft. It will be configured in a three class layout of 4 in First Class, 35 in Business Class, and 247 in Economy Class. The A350 benefits from a carbon fibre fuselage and wings, and newer fuel-efficient Rolls-Royce engines. This offers an improved operational efficiency and a 25% reduction in fuel burn and emissions.
Malaysia Airlines has been suffering from financial turmoil ever since the air carrier was rocked by the twin loss of aircraft that occurred in 2014. On 8 March 2014, Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 disappeared while enroute to Beijing, China from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The Boeing 777-200ER aircraft dissappeared with the loss of all 239 on board. The aircraft was last reported heading out to sea from Penang after its computer course was changed on-board. That was followed by Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 being shot down by rebels on 17 July 2014 while flying over the Eastern Ukraine, killing all 283 passengers and 15 crew on board. That aircraft was also a Boeing 777-200ER.
Singapore Airlines formally announced a deal today for 20 777-9 and 19 787-10 Boeing airliners during a ceremony at the White House. The order was previously attributed to an unidentified customer, and is worth $13.8 billion at list price. Airlines usually negotiate large discounts off the list price, and the deal is estimated to actually be around $6.5 billion. The deal will help to sustain more than 70,000 direct and indirect jobs in the United States. Singapore Airlines also added options to take delivery of up to 6 additional 777-9’s and 6 787-10 aircraft.
The airline will be the launch customer for the 787-10. The aircraft are scheduled to begin deliveries in the first half of 2018, and the new order is in addition to a prior order for 30 787-10’s. Singapore now has 49 787-10’s on order, making it the largest customer for the latest 787 aircraft type. The carrier plans on using the new 787-10 version on its medium-range routes, with the 777-9 operating on the airlines longer-haul routes. The large Asian air carrier and its subsidiaries operate the Boeing 737-800, 737-MAX 8, 787-8, 787-9, 777, and 747-400 aircraft types.
The deal for the new Boeing jets comes on the heels of the airlines announcement last May that they will not be renewing the leases on the first 5 of their Airbus 380 jets. The first of those 5 will be returned to its lessor in October, 2017. The next four will be retired over the following year. Singapore Airlines does have another five A380’s currently on its order book scheduled for deliveries in 2018 and 2019. It would not surprise me if these orders ended up being canceled, or converted to a different Airbus aircraft type. The A380 has failed to live up to European plane makers expectations, as only 216 aircraft are in service with 13 operators as of September 30, 2017. There are “officially” orders for about 100 more aircraft, but those deliveries are on shaky ground, at best. Emirates appears to be the only airline that has been able to make the A380 fleet work, but they have deferred their remaining A380’s on order amid slowing growth.
Air France-KLM has canceled the remaining two Airbus A380 Superjumbo aircraft it had on it’s order book. The airline decided to swap the 2 remaining A380 aircraft for 3 of the more flexible Airbus A350-900 long range airplane. Air France executives stated that the fact that the A380 aircraft cannot land at all airports limits the flexibility of the airlines route management. Airbus has seen a sharp drop in the already limited demand for the over budget Superjumbo aircraft. The European aircraft manufacturer was able to recently place 3 of the A380 aircraft with All Nippon Airlines of Japan, but reports indicate that the price paid for those planes were a mere fraction of the Airbus list price.
Air France-KLM latest to cancel Airbus A380 order
The A380 program has been a source of major financial pressure on the European aircraft manufacturer. Design and production issues with the plane has caused the cost of the program to escalate. Airbus has booked just 319 firm orders total for the A380 aircraft in 15 years, but many of those deliveries remaining on the order log are in doubt. Virgin Atlantic Airways has stated that it does not plan to take delivery of the 6 A380 aircraft the airline originally ordered back in December of 2000. Malaysia Airlines had planed to sell or lease out part, or all, of its A380 fleet, but recently abandoned those plans due to a lack of interest in the aircraft from potential customers. The A380 program has been a money loser for the company, and the future of the airplane may be in jeopardy. Emirates Airline president Tim Clark has stated that his airline would purchase up to 200 additional A380 aircraft if Airbus agreed to update the design with new engines, but the plane maker has balked at committing more money to the program in the near future.
Malaysia Airlines has announced that it will delay its plan to sell off its Airbus A380 super jumbo jets. The airline has stated that it will now keep the 6 A380’s in its fleet until at least 2018. This follows the air carriers retirement its Boeing 777 fleet. The airline has been unable to sell the giant Airbus airplanes over the last year, as it moves to cut costs and restructure. Malaysia Airlines has been trying to climb its way out of a giant hole after the disappearance of flight 370 and the shooting down of flight 17 over the Ukraine in 2014. The goal is to return to profitability by 2018, the airline has stated. It’s facing some trouble with that plan, due to both a softening China market, and the depreciation of the local currency against the US dollar.
