Demise of the A380

richardw

I had my first flight on an A350 recently and that’s a great plane, fingers crossed it sells really well. The A380 will be available for a very long time and if there are breakthroughs in engine technology, even longer.

Doshwaster

EssexExile wrote: »

Surely it's what the airline does with the plane that makes the flight a better or worse experience? The actual plane doesn't matter that much.

Usually that is true - the onboard service is more of a factor than the actual plane - but in the case of the A380 it was significantly quieter than other wide bodied planes.

PompeyPete

Doshwaster wrote: »

Usually that is true - the onboard service is more of a factor than the actual plane - but in the case of the A380 it was significantly quieter than other wide bodied planes.

Dosh....try the Thomson Dreamliner for onboard cabin ambiance.

unforeseen

It's not being scrapped. There will still be over 300 of them flying.

Ballard

I’ve flown business and economy with emirates on this plane and really liked both. The bar is a great place to stretch your legs, have a drink and chat to fellow travellers. If flying Emirates I would fly this aircraft given the choice.

Sadly it seems that the sums simply don’t add up for the airlines.

jackieblack

unforeseen wrote: »

It's not being scrapped. There will still be over 300 of them flying.

Yes, but only a limited number flying a limited number of routes. If the airlines had continued to expand their fleets of A380s and production had continued there would have been more A380s, on more routes.

I know the numbers didn’t add up and there are business reasons for those decisions, but I still think it’s a shame.

unforeseen

I think it was just too big (seating wise) to be cost effective.

747 Jumbos & 787 Dreamliner with 400 seats are doing quite well. Boeing currently have orders for 1700+ Dreamliner. Whereas 500 seats for the A380 seems to have been too much for most airlines

coffeehound

jackieblack wrote: »

I have been really disappointed by the 787, have flown on several and really not impressed. The last couple of times I’ve felt much worse after flying (on a 787) than I ever have on any other flights. I would now rather pay a bit more for an alternative flight on a different plane, if there is a choice.

Interesting — can I ask what you dislike about the 787?

jackieblack

coffeehound wrote: »

Interesting — can I ask what you dislike about the 787?

Narrower seats (might vary with different airlines I guess), but the cabin walls seemed closer/narrower than on a 747/777/A330, I just felt generally less comfortable and I got off feeling more ‘woolly headed’ than usual and with a splitting headache that I’ve never experienced after any other flight, or in fact any time at all - I very rarely get headaches at all (in fact I can’t remember having any other headaches than these in the last 5 years). First time I didn’t think anything of it particularly but when that was repeated a second, then a third time (not on consecutive flights) I can’t help feeling that maybe that’s more than a coincidence.

Just a personal preference and I appreciate others will have different opinions, but I can only judge based on my own experience.

Doshwaster

unforeseen wrote: »

I think it was just too big (seating wise) to be cost effective.

747 Jumbos & 787 Dreamliner with 400 seats are doing quite well. Boeing currently have orders for 1700+ Dreamliner. Whereas 500 seats for the A380 seems to have been too much for most airlines

Not just the airlines but the A380 needed expense new double decker gates at airport, longer runways and engineering facilities which limited where they could fly to.

I'm sure there will still be a future for the A380 on high density routes between hubs (such as London-Dubai) so it won't be going away any time soon.