Airbus has announced that it will stop production of its A380 Superjumbo — the largest passenger aircraft in the world.
In a statement, the company said that the last delivery of the ordered liners will be carried out in 2021.
This decision was taken after the biggest customer – Emirates airline – has reduced its order for the A380.
The A380 Superjumbo tried to compete with smaller aircraft that proved to be more efficient to use.
Emirates has reduced the order of two-story A380 from 162 to 123 aircraft. Thus, instead of 53 A380 aircraft by 2021 will be delivered only 14.
The A380 was the flagship of the Emirates, but now the airline has decided to switch to smaller aircraft and signed an agreement to supply 30 wide−body A350−900 and 40 A330-900 aircraft, abandoning part of the previously ordered A380.
All efforts to sell the aircraft to other airlines have not been successful, so there is no reason to maintain production, said Airbus CEO Tom Enders.
“Passengers all over the world love to fly this beautiful plane. Therefore, today’s statement is very painful for us,” said Enders.
Airlines are abandoning larger models of aircraft, such as the A380 with four engines, in favor of small wide-body aircraft, says Greg Waldron, editor-in-chief of Flightglobal in Asia.
“Now there is an obvious trend in the market to operate long — haul aircraft with two engines, such as Boeing 787 and 777 and Airbus A330 and A350,” the expert said.
Airbus refuses his dream of domination in the sky with a cruise liner of the XXI century, writes Reuters.
The world’s largest two-story airliner, the A380 Superjumbo was designed to challenge competitors with their Boeing 747. In the standard layout, it is designed for 544 passengers and can fly a distance of up to 15 thousand kilometers. Operation of the aircraft began in 2007 year.
Peak production of the Airbus A380 came in 2014, when it was released 30 ships.
Airbus said that it will start negotiations with the trade unions, as soon as more than 3 thousand people may lose their jobs. In the meantime, the company will produce another 17 aircraft, including 14 for Emirates and three for the Japanese airline ANA.
