A.380 production to finish in ............

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18 years 11 months

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http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-12-10/airbus-at-crossroads-as-a380-jumbo-faces-spend-or-fade-conundrum.html

Maybe in 2018 according to the CFO! ;)

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Member for

19 years 5 months

Posts: 9,821

I don't think it will happen...Airbus/France/Germany wouldn't want to loose face or are the governments/banks putting pressure on them to actually make a profit?

I've always been a supporter of the A380...it's a great plane for some routes, but the question is there enough of a market?

Also, I don't understand how the wing could have been designed not to take newer engine.
The 747-8 and 777X have an excuse...those planes were designed long ago...so new wings are to be expected as part of an upgrade.

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14 years 1 month

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http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-12-10/airbus-at-crossroads-as-a380-jumbo-faces-spend-or-fade-conundrum.html

Maybe in 2018 according to the CFO! ;)

Poor reporting.

They've orders well out beyond that, so cannot just pull the line. They'd have to reduce output, which of course is not the same as stopping.

As regards engine upgrades requiring a new wing, knowing the A380-800 wing is significantly oversized and understressed as it was built for the -900 they thought would follow, I would be shocked if it couldn't handle bigger/heavier engines*.

*edit: Not that the new engines would necessarily be heavier:
http://leehamnews.com/2014/02/03/updating-the-a380-the-prospect-of-a-neo-version-and-whats-involved/

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20 years 5 months

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I read today that Airbus have confirmed the A380NEO and a stretch. Both seem to pander to Emirates' demands. They've been the only ones shouting for an upgrade.

I've always considered the A380 an ego project. And after only 10 years, it's already getting an NEO to keep it attractive to customers!

There never was a huge market for such a beast. And it seems the majority of its sales will remain in the middle east.

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15 years 9 months

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Dinosaurs always become extinct rapidly.

They will make good static "hotels" (with some internal mods) in some locations for ex Airbus employees.

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14 years 1 month

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http://aviationweek.com/commercial-aviation/rolls-royce-and-airbus-near-accord-over-a380neo

Airbus is accelerating its studies of an upgraded A380 and, after talks held last month with engine makers in Toulouse, appears to be closing on an initial agreement with Rolls-Royce.

The engine manufacturer is strongly supporting plans for both the A380neo and the potential A380-900 stretch. According to industry sources, Rolls-Royce is discussing a variety of all-new engine options ranging from derivatives of the A350’s XWB-84/97 to the future Advance project unveiled earlier this year. Until recently it was widely believed Rolls-Royce may be in pole position for a possible slot on the upgraded A380 because of its victory on the A330neo with the Trent 7000, a similarly-rated engine as the current unit. This engine is due to debut on the Airbus twin in late 2017 and is derived from the ‘TEN’ version of the Trent 1000, now under final development for the Boeing 787. However sources say the proposed A380neo project will require more power than the Trent 7000 which is rated at between 68,000 lb. and 72,000 lb. for the A330-800neo and -900neo.

Interesting. The A380 wing was always designed for the -900.

Obviously, the numbers need to add up, but an A380-900neo could give you over a 20% improvement in seat-mile costs versus todays A380-800 (which may put it between 5-10% better than a 777-9X):

Note: Numbers below are for A380-800 with 11-abreast seating. The -900 is supposedly capable of taking at least 100 more passengers than the baseline -800.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]233960[/ATTACH]
From here

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12 years 3 months

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The Bigger wing on the smaller fuselage was in fact one of the poorest decision of the "old" managing team. That and the decision to not "bulge" the second deck for poor marketing insight have ruined the profitability that companies could have expected from the plane.

...and the above have been written long before today.

I don't know if they are really serious about a 380Neo. You know, it could be only an announcement targeted to the market.

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14 years 1 month

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[ATTACH=CONFIG]233993[/ATTACH]

I suppose another question is, would they go for the -900 or -900UHE

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16 years

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I think the A380 will be extended and will get a new engine option.

By then, the A380 will have been in production for a long time and, with general technological advances, will need to be upgraded to remain attractive to the marketplace, in exactly the same way as any aircraft programme has in the last fifty years.

True, the CEO was stupid to say what he did but to criticise the A380 programme for possibly heading for an upgrade now is no different, and no less unfair, than criticising Boeing would have been for turning the B747-100 into the 200/300 back in the day.