Whos all for the A380?

Read the forum code of contact

Member for

18 years 3 months

Posts: 159

Who agrees thinks that having the A380 around soon will be a great pleasure to see travel on (If your lucky) i know that i am but its disapointing that only virgin atlantic are the only english airline that have ordered it and only 6!! i mean who dosent agree that we should'nt have the super jumbo??

Me i 100% want it to be around for ages

Original post

Member for

20 years 8 months

Posts: 3,394

i mean who dosent agree that we should'nt have the super jumbo??

I don't quite get what your trying to say there? :confused: with regards to VS being the only airline too order the A380 they will probably order more when and if they need them, realistically the only other UK airlines that could order the A380 are BA or BMI.

Now BA are obviously very happy using the B747 and B777 for their long-haul flights and TBH I can see this continuing with Boeing and only using Airbus for short-haul. BMI? well I can't see them ever needing the A380, currently as you probably know they use the A330 for long haul and any expansion from them in that sector would only involve them ordering more A330s or increasing capacity using the A340.

Member for

18 years 3 months

Posts: 159

What i mean is if people were in a debate about this the person against might say we dont need this round our country it will make too mutch noise but on the other hand the person who really likes it the might say we need this plane it makes flying from to far away so mutch easyier than having to stop

That kind of thing

Member for

18 years 5 months

Posts: 992

I think that as airports slowly adapt to the new aircraft, it will become an increasingly common site, just like the 747 was in it's first few years. Admittedly though, not all major airlines will require an aircraft of that size. The 747 seems to fit airlines needs quite nicely and so I think there will only be a certain number of 747 (or A330/40, T7) operators that will need to upgrade to the A380.

I just hope that they've got this aircraft right, as an accident with that amount of people on board would not look good at all for either Airbus or the operator (I suppose the same could go for 747D operators that cram 500 odd people into them).

Member for

18 years 3 months

Posts: 159

Any1??

Member for

19 years 6 months

Posts: 475

The 747 seems to fit airlines needs quite nicely and so I think there will only be a certain number of 747 (or A330/40, T7) operators that will need to upgrade to the A380.

That may well be true over the next 5 to 10 years, but after that, I don't think we'll find too much concrete being allowed to be poured onto the ground which would mean that for a potential tripling of passenger traffic over the next 20-30 years, the average plane size will have to increase so we may see A321s on A320 routes, 739s for 73Gs, 777s for 767, 747s for 777s, etc. Obviously, for some airlines that have 747s but are not full to bursting on most of the routes they fly, the B748 (and not the HS748!) would be one to have but for others (mainly Asian airlines), they may want to go to A380s to cater for the bigger passenger carrier potential (think of China/India when the masses start to travel).

Member for

18 years 5 months

Posts: 128

I feel at some point B.A. will have to order some A380s, Maybe not now but within the next 3-5 years. To not order the A380 will be like giving B.A.s passengers away to Virgin and Emirates,Qantas and Singapore Airlines ( all these airlines compete on some of the same routes that B.A. flies.
B.A. seem happy at the moment to use the 747-400s and 777s on its long haul flights but some of these aircraft are ageing ( early 747-400s ) so the question is, do B.A. continue to operate the older 747-400s in the fleet or maybe sell off around 10-15 of them perhaps order 10 A380s initially.
Personally I think B.A. will feel a kick in the teeth when Virgin proudly start A380 flights while B.A. are offering 747-400s, nothing wrong with the 747-400, but I think B.A. should take some A380S for use on the long haul routes.

Anyone agree with this ?

Regards

Nordjet 415

Member for

20 years 5 months

Posts: 10,625

RE Ba and the A380.

I think BA may well prefer to keep their current frequencies and therefore offer more flexibility.
They'd rather fly 2 747s to a destination, giving their customer the choice of times, rather than one A380 giving their customer no choice.

Besides, I'm told they don't always fill their 747s anyway so an A380 could be overkill.

At any rate, BA will wait till the A380 proves itself in service before making any decision for or against. I beleive Walsh is on record as saying that.

Member for

19 years 9 months

Posts: 1,105

I think it was Old Bob That said that BA would not be considering the A380 for at least 3 Years after it had entered Service , Reason cited were the fact BA was not due to replace their existing aircraft and it Would give Airbus time to Iron out any Problems, He also said that BA would never again be the launch Customer for any Aircraft
Emirates Have suggested that may use the 380 on the Heathrow-Dubai route, with 800 seats and offering a Price of about £200 return, now if this happens Then you might see BA taking a look at it , Time will tell

Member for

24 years 2 months

Posts: 3,538

IIRC it was just a couple of issues ago in Flight that BA said they plan to start considering the case for A380 operation next year. This is just consideration and will be looked at alongside alternative Boeing options. They will also be assessing the later variants of the A346.

Member for

24 years 2 months

Posts: 11,159

I don't think BA will be particularly worried about buying the A380, purely from the point of view of prestige? If they are worried about losing customers to Virgin because of this then a simple "competitive pricing promotion" should sort that out.

Nor do I believe the average Joe Bloggs traveller is particularly aware of, or cares about what aircraft type they fly on, so any A380 novelty factor will be short lived in my opinion. Perhaps as suggested BA may look to the big bus whenever their current long haul fleet becomes obsolete, but of course they may just look the new 747 range instead if at all?

As for BA never being a launch customer again... ? Would the launch of the 757 be the last time this happened, and do airlines (now or before) receive any kind of incentives to help "iron out the bugs" so to speak ?

Member for

19 years 9 months

Posts: 1,105

IIRC it was just a couple of issues ago in Flight that BA said they plan to start considering the case for A380 operation next year. This is just consideration and will be looked at alongside alternative Boeing options. They will also be assessing the later variants of the A346.

Now that Mr Walsh Is in charge , I would guess that he would be looking to go down same road as Aer lingus and May be Have an all Airbus Fleet , it certainly seems to have worked well With Aer Lingus

Member for

24 years 2 months

Posts: 3,538

Personally, I would have thought the logical solution to the long term fleet strategy for BA would be a short haul operation of A319/320/321 and medium/long haul with B787 and B777-300ER. That would be a pretty slick and balanced operation in my view.

Member for

19 years 9 months

Posts: 1,105

I don't think BA will be particularly worried about buying the A380, purely from the point of view of prestige? If they are worried about losing customers to Virgin because of this then a simple "competitive pricing promotion" should sort that out.

Nor do I believe the average Joe Bloggs traveller is particularly aware of, or cares about what aircraft type they fly on, so any A380 novelty factor will be short lived in my opinion. Perhaps as suggested BA may look to the big bus whenever their current long haul fleet becomes obsolete, but of course they may just look the new 747 range instead if at all?

As for BA never being a launch customer again... ? Would the launch of the 757 be the last time this happened, and do airlines (now or before) receive any kind of incentives to help "iron out the bugs" so to speak ?


I Know that the BA were pushing for the 747Advanced , but this again this was before Mr Walsh showed up

Member for

24 years 2 months

Posts: 4,213

Now that Mr Walsh Is in charge , I would guess that he would be looking to go down same road as Aer lingus and May be Have an all Airbus Fleet , it certainly seems to have worked well With Aer Lingus

Why not all boeings? I would assume EIN went for all airbus because of the A330s and A320s already in fleet. If it had been B747s and B737s at EIN it would be all Boeing i bet.... (i imaginge long haul fleet was biggest deciding factoR)

Member for

20 years 5 months

Posts: 10,625

Personally, I would have thought the logical solution to the long term fleet strategy for BA would be a short haul operation of A319/320/321 and medium/long haul with B787 and B777-300ER. That would be a pretty slick and balanced operation in my view.

Agreed. Given their large 777 fleet already, and that the 787 will share a lot of cockpit commonality with the 777, that would make for a smart fleet.

IIRC, the 773ER can already fly to any destination BA currently serve with their 744s.

Member for

19 years 9 months

Posts: 1,105

Why not all boeings? I would assume EIN went for all airbus because of the A330s and A320s already in fleet. If it had been B747s and B737s at EIN it would be all Boeing i bet.... (i imaginge long haul fleet was biggest deciding factoR)

EIN Had both until Mr Walsh took over and he dcided to switch to All Airbus,most of BA staff reckon he will do to BA what he did to EIN

Member for

20 years 5 months

Posts: 10,625

EIN Had both until Mr Walsh took over and he dcided to switch to All Airbus,most of BA staff reckon he will do to BA what he did to EIN

He'd be a very foolish man to try. BA is far, far bigger. BA have more 777s than EI have planes alltogether.
To dump such a large fleet would cost billions. It'd probably be more cost effective to operate Airbus and Boeing widebodies.
BA aren't married to Boeing for longhaul, its just coincidence how their fleet has worked out so far.

Member for

18 years 6 months

Posts: 3,718

I Know that the BA were pushing for the 747Advanced , but this again this was before Mr Walsh showed up

Think this way: BA is happy with their B747-400 at the moment. They are due for replacement after 2010. So why make any statements now? BA is surely evaluating A380 and B747-8. There is no point in saying anything in advance. BA profits from the B747-8 anyways, because with the offer of Boeing in hand they can force Airbus to make better pricing.

When several airlines fly out of Heathrow with A380 to BA destinations, BA will surely have a problem, because the A380 is supposed to operate more efficient (and is by itself advertising as the B747 was years ago).

They will then either change business strategy and concentrate on high-yield people, or they will buy A380 themself. It is just not wise to say it now.

Imagine BA would have said mid this year that the will replace B747 with A380 and B777 (how I think it will go). The B747-8 launch would have been less likely or it would have been a pure freighter version (the final decision on the B747-8 is still due, their is no customer for the pax version yet). But now they can start long-term negotiations with Airbus and Boeing and make a good price for the A380.

If BA orders the A380 and the B747-8 doesn't get the market, the A380 will become more pricy for airlines ordering it. 747-400 replacement will mostly take place between 2010 and 2020.