the airbus 380 goes into early retirement

They are only a few más de 14 añof the first flights of a Airbus 380 and this modern aircraft has entered a retirementóin advance, forced.

Whatever the big bet of the European manufacturer Airbus to confront Boeing in the wide-body aircraft segment, double-decker and powered by 4 motores isá arriving a lot más ráI ask for what is expected at its end, an end that approaches before drástic decisions of your clients, the aerosolsídenies.

Brief history

The general project of this modern aircraftón goes back many years toños, 1988 when the first developments of the avión began to circulate on the work tables of Airbus engineers as a project to compete with Boeing and Jumbo 747.

He at that time called «megaproject» was announced to the world in 1990 in the Saltón BerriesáFarnborough utico in England, at that time with the first indicators to reduceíyear in one 15% operating costs in relationón to the competition.

Initially named Airbus A3XXX in 1994 startedó to take shape in designñor with the combine usón of two complete fuselages one on top of the other, unlike the Boeing 747 what is úonly in the front of the aircraft.

Sayén for December 2000, Airbus gave the final go-ahead to launch the A3XX program afterés to carry out studies in hundreds of airports around the world to determine the sizesñm axisáwe cry out loud, height and seating capacity that meets the needs of potential customers.

The manufactureón in mass of the thousands of components of the initial aircraftó in January 2002, in a multimillion-dollar project that you surpassó the $25.000 millions of dóhomes, triple what has been saidíinitially calculated, putting likeí the first obstacles to the project.

The first grandfatherón fully builtíand testing was the MSN 001, which before 5.000 people and thousands of curious people from all over the world was presented on 18 of January of 2005 in Toulouse, Francia to start theí ground tests prior to initial flight.

The 27 april 2005, after several delays in the executionón of the project due to difficulties téconical and operational aspects of the giant of the air that made itó at aviónumber of passengers más biggest in the world and what caníto accommodate inside más de 820 passengers, took offó Before the eyes of the whole world and with great fanfare, it was presented to society on its first test flight..

The first commercial flight and launch customer was Singapore Airlines on 25 October 2007 on a flight between Singapore and Síday, but what will happeníundressingés, generó la jubilariansópreview of this brand new aircraft.

They are currently 15 aerolíthose that have Airbus A380 aircraft in service within their fleet out of a world total of 222 airplanes flying in the airíneas HiFly, Singapore Airlines, Emirates, Qantas, Air France, Lufthansa, Korean Air, China Southern, Malaysia, Thai, Brithis, Asiana, Qatar, Etihad and one of the mánew All Nippon Airways.

¿Whaté salió mal?

From the own words of senior Airbus officials they indicated that the aircraftón leggó in a bad moment histórich and very advanced for him élittle and within this the manufacturer closeá the líproduction lineón of the huge planeón and 2021 when the úlast unit.

We can analyze several problems that affected this aircraft, Among them stand out:

• operating costs: with the rise in the price of oil, operate an aircraft 4 engines is much más expensive than twin-engine airplanes that can equally carry a large number of passengers in configuration.óhigh density n, the same thing that happenedó with the Boeings 747 and its variants.
• problems técynical: There are several unscheduled maintenance problems that have generated discontent among airlines.ílines and incidents of various magnitudes such as engine failures and más recently reports of cracks in the wings of some specific aircraftífics have generated «a break up» Airbus – operators.
• arrivedó at the wrong time: I agree with Airbus statements, the A380 is a great aircraft, but it arrivedó in a moment of evolutionón of aviationón, where they give way to airplanes with only two engines that Airbus itself manufactures and launchesño a añor improved versions that generated their own internal skills to their great aircraftón that did not allow competition with economicídelicate and aerosolílines that they seek every dayía aún más profitability in your operations. If the grandfatherón arrival in the 70s or 80s, hornbeamíhas been a huge ésuccess.
• Mercado: not all paíThey have the capacity per market to receive this aircraftón, limitando su operationón anywhere in the world, being that there are destinations that need several daily flights instead of just one massive one as the A380 offers..

The aerosolsíI will tell you not to goós

• Malaysia Airlines: is already looking for buyers for its 6 Airbus A380 aircraft.
• Emirates: the airínea confirmó which expects to keep the A380s in its fleet until approximatelyñO 2035, subject to market conditions. During the 2019 The retirement of the first has already been announced 2 Airbus A380.
• Air France: the airíne is the máis recent in confirming the departure of the A380 from its fleet, for him 2022 The departure of this aircraft has been confirmedón of France, when the first ones leave the fleet from this same toñO.
• Qantas: has not indicated the departure date of the aircraft, but canceledó the 8 additional orders you haveíto the A380.

Future

It does not mean that the Airbus 380 leaveástop flying, they have toúa lot of future ahead. The departure of the big Aerolíneas open the opportunity for emerging aerolícompanies to take charge of these planes paying a lotívery less in purchasing or leasing to develop your market strategies, whyé not a low cost high conceptíhighest density.

Spaghettién, it will be possibleístill open opportunities for creationón of new variants such as the optionóa cargo that never materializedó, but what caníto face the imminent declineón of the costs of these aircraft due to the now zero demand for this aircraft.

whatever the case, we haveúIt will not be long before we see the Airbus A380 fly through the skies of the world, just like what happens with the Boeing 747, that alsoén isá mandatory exit, simply, I don't know how to buildán más and not growán and núnumber of aircraft in service.