Bummer: A380 project terminated

Exactly. I don't go anywhere with the intent of actively trying not to get thrown in the slammer, because I tend to not behave in a way that would necessitate that. I mean if you go to Dubai and get caught stealing something, guess what they do......

https://www.khaleejtimes.com/news/crime/thieves-steal-from-sharjah-warehouse-face-amputation

 

I should have clarified that
Our airport projects are roughly 6-12 months long with guys going to site for 2-3 weeks at a time sometimes with a month gap so it's not like they are there continuous. I don't interface with a ton a people but I never met or heard of anyone that has gone or wanted to go to Dubai for a personal vacation which prompted my question.

Back to the A380. I've never flown on it but watched a few engineering documentaries about it, really interesting and complex aircraft. The infrastructure that had to be put in place before the plane was even built was interesting in itself.

 

Yup. It can only land at certain airports due to its size. It needs special gates and jet bridges, they board through 3 of them simultaneously, and they need a special Tug to tow the plane into and away from the gate....so its burdensome for the airport to facilitate the thing as well.

 

Dubai's a great place for a vacation, if you're in that area. Huge English-based expat community, and lotttts of fun to be had, for all definitions of fun. Main downside is that it's expensive.

 

I wonder if the airports that dished out for the special gates will be best pleased...

 

I suspect that A380's will continue to keep flying for another decade or two. Just because they stop building any new ones after 2021 doesn't mean the whole fleet is going to be grounded. Once all orders are filled there's still going to be about 300 of them out there.

 

They will be flying at least into the 2030s, bearing some unforeseeable oil circumstance. There would be no reason to build them for another couple of years if they were going to be parked right away.

 

Flew in one from Chicago to Heathrow last year, most comfortable plane I've been on, even in the cheap seats.

 

The 380 was outdated when it went into production. The two engine efficient planes kick its ass (787) on operating cost/dollar per passenger mile. I think the only reason it went into production at all was the EU subsidy. As an aircraft guy though they are way cool and yes they are nice to fly on. One complaint is there are so many people if you are in cheap seats it may take many hours to clear customs.

 

Oh, I get that but the traffic will be less than promised.
I just hope the designers didn't make the gates specific for the 380...

No a bridge to nowhere but a bridge to Bumphuk Alaska....

 

Didn't have any problems on the way out, coming back to Philly on a 777 on the other hand...

 

Going through customs in Dubai was a breeze.....coming back in through JFK took about 25 minutes, didn't really matter though since baggage hadn't made it out yet. That was another plus/minus. There's ALOT of baggage that comes out of an A380.

Since Dubai is Emirates' hub airport, alot of people that were on my flight going there were just stopping over to connect elsewhere....so there was maybe 30-40 piece of luggage on the carousel at baggage claim. On the way back JFK was pretty much everyone's final stop, the carousel quickly filled to capacity and they had to have workers come and pull bags off and start lining them up on the floor in rows (in addition to the full carousel).

 

I once had a ticket for a 380 flight. CDG-JFK. Guess what. Air France effed up in GVA and i didn’t get to Paris before the strike went into effect. Ended up rebooked on air Canada, got hung up in Montreal immigration, spent another night in Toronto...

Classic Air France i’d say

 

Vive la France!

 

I have the same story with AF and their 380's, but instead I ended up in Geneva on Swiss.

 

Funny you guys brought this up cuz in Asia they are everywhere. Saw three in Seoul airport on my layover, landed in Toronto and as we’re taxiing to terminal Etihad 380 lands next to us.

But Asia is all 777, 787s, and 737 for feeder stuff.

Flying over there is cheap. Kuala Lumpur to Phuket for $75 usd? Hell yea.

 

How unfortunate for you.

 

Probably why the majority of plane crashes are over there.

 

They are?

All their planes are newer. All 737 NGs, 777, 787s.

I feel a lot better on those than getting on Delta MD-90s.

Maybe cuz they have so many more flights statistically it means a chance of a crash is more?

 

https://aviation-safety.net/statistics/geographical/worst_geo_loc.php

https://www.airbus.com/content/dam/...s-Commercial-Aviation-Accidents-1958-2017.pdf