Airbus has announced that production of the largest passenger plane of all time, the A380 will cease in 2021 as orders from airlines around the globe dwindle.
At the time of the A380’s first commercial flight by Singapore Airlines in 2007, there were only 60 international airports which could accommodate the colossal craft and there was scepticism about the success of the venture when Airbus first came up with the idea of the superjumbo as a competitor to Boeing’s extremely popular 747.
Perhaps this huge airplane was ahead of its time as Airport Technologies states that ‘The A380 has been designed from the start with existing and future airport infrastructure in mind’. Here at home, Cape Town International Airport is set to undergo R7-billion upgrades that will be complete in 2023, which will include the expansion of a runway to accommodate aircraft the size of the Airbus A380.
However, filling the 800 seats on the double-decker airplane on a continuous basis is challenging, and when Emirates, the largest supporter of A380 decided to transfer all its current orders to smaller A350 and A320 planes it sealed the fate of the world’s largest commercial passenger plane.
‘While we are disappointed to have to give up our order, and sad that the programme could not be sustained, we accept that this is the reality of the situation,’ Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed al Maktoum, the chairman and CEO of Emirates, told the Associated Press.
The A380 won’t disappear from the skies immediately – like the Concord did after 30 years of supersonic commercial air travel – as there are still 230 planes currently in commission, and although Emirates won’t be placing any new orders it is still waiting on 17 that will be delivered before 2021.
Images: Pixaby.
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