I flew on one of these beasts for the first time last month and was quite impressed, it's sheer size is incredible and a welcome change from the typical sardine can narrow body jets. I was always a big 747 fan and to now hear this (even thought I knew it was imminent) kind of stinks. It's crazy landing at DXB airport and its littered with A380's all over the place. https://www.thenational.ae/business...1-as-emirates-orders-70-smaller-jets-1.825595
From what I was reading there’s no market for them. They’re just too big. Or am I wrong? But I did find this interesting. I’d love to know the inside info?
Yeah, they don't make sense from a cost per seat perspective.....not by a long shot. And with point-to-point routes now making alot more sense than the previous hub-and-spoke model it was only a matter of time. That's why Boeing went with the 787 and 777x rather than continuing to advance the 747.
Seemingly....Emirates was the only thing keeping the project afloat. Without their orders the project would have flopped years ago. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Airbus_A380_orders_and_deliveries
The 747 is such a beautiful airplane, particularly the classics (and the SP in its cartoonish muscle-bound way). The 380 looks like a tick ready to pop. Airbus is losing it’s shirt on the 380. There was an article (in aviation Week I think?) that talked about the order book/required deliveries before Airbus recouped the development costs. I remember the number being north of 1k. It’s a white elephant, put it down..
I watched a few documentaries on it through the years and it sounded like an overly ambitious project spearheaded by a very pig headed guy in charge, maybe too much ego behind it.
The twin engine wide body is where it’s at for long-haul flights. Less fuel, half the engines to maintain, cheaper landing fees, no specialized gates, lots’a reasons. The ‘380 was a prestige program from inception. I’m still waiting for some Saudi prince to have one painted all gold ...
I don't think its painted in gold on the outside, but.... https://www.ausbt.com.au/photos-inside-the-private-airbus-a380-flying-palace https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/ar...-jet-Turkish-bath-boardroom-concert-hall.html
First class (not business) on an Emerates 380 Is quite the experience. Shower on a commercial plane sure is nice.
The 747 is outdated as hell. Like flying in your grand parents living room. A few years ago they flew a plane into dulles to take to the air and space museum. They packed it in on of those giant russian planes. Holy shitola, that thing flew over my house and it was huge! I don't think I flew in an A380, I'm way too cheap.
How dare you. She is a classy lady that knows how to move. You must be more into the coked up Lindsey Lohan Airbus..
The newest one, or are you talking about an older model. It doesn't have a huge amount of updates but the latest gen 747-8I was first delivered about 10 years ago brought some new updates that came from the 787 like the raked wingtips and sawtooth engine nacelles on the new GE next gen engines and update fly by wire in the cockpit as well as a few other goodies. A lot depends on the airline, the route and the time of booking. I flew economy on Emirates direct to Dubai from JFK. The ticket was the same price (not crazy expensive) as any United parter flight that only got there with stop(s).
I think Airbus was misled as to the market for this plane. Boeing is often portrayed as being caught off guard by the announcement of the 380, but I think they were mostly scratching their heads as to where all these planes were going to be sold. They had a pretty good knowledge of that market and just didn't see things going that way. But I think Airbus and customers like Emerates were caught up in a future where throngs of tourists were flying from major cites to places like Dubai. Also, like the Concorde, there was an element of hubris that started to take hold once the ball was rolling. The prestige of building the biggest passenger plane. And as the developments costs grew (as they do), the number of planes that would have to be sold to break even soared.