last plane A380 The largest ever passenger plane from Airbus series production was delivered to Emirates Airlines on Thursday, ending a two-decade industrial adventure that ended in financial failure.
Air giant, which should initially be a Star Project From the European manufacturer Airbus, it eventually became A big problem, until the end of its manufacture was announced in 2019.
Ago In 2007 the first aircraft was delivered to Singapore Airlines, 251 left the Airbus factory in Toulouse (France) destined for 14 companies, the last of which is Emirates Airlines, which is also the company with the largest number, 123 with a factory on Thursday.
The Persian Gulf companies were the most popular choice for the A380, which is a four-plane, double cabin, 72.7 m long, 79.8 m wide, airliner. Capable of carrying up to 853 passengers and with a Autonomy up to 15,000 km.
Travelers highly value their comfort, and the rest of the airlines have chosen orBehind the strategies, smaller aircraft with greater autonomy, which was cornering the A380, which fell far short of the expectations Airbus had placed on it.
Emirates took delivery of its Airbus A380 123 in Hamburg on December 16, 2021. Photo: Airbus
Airbus expects to build 1,300 A380 models
During its launch, the European consortium estimated the number of aircraft with more than 500 seats to be about 1,300 that would be sold in 20 years and was counting on retaining half of that market thanks to its new A380 brand, which was introduced as a replacement for the Boeing 747.
But sales did not come, and the program was accumulating losses -300 million euros annually, according to financial analysts – in Program cost about 30000 millionMuch more than originally imagined.
The result is that the European group Did not achieve financial balance With this project, which Airbus initially thought it would achieve by selling 250 and then selling 420, which is a far cry from the 251 that were delivered.
Since 2015, no orders have entered the offices of the European consortium, which decided to stop the bleeding of expenses and put an end to The program is as symbolic as it is imperfect, once manufactured those that were under processing.
Transporting 300 million passengers
To date, the A380 has carried about 300 million passengers and completed about 7.3 million flight hours, although the end of its industrial adventure does not mean its disappearance from the airspace as its majestic figure still hovers above it. 70 airports around the world, mostly in the Asia Pacific region.
A number that has been reduced, because the Covid-19 epidemic has put an end to many of the routes he traveled on, and some companies, such as Air France or British Airways, decided to block those they had in their fleet.
Many others have also grounded the 747s, which Boeing plans to stop manufacturing next year.
Other news about the air giant:
– Air France-KLM has announced that it will stop flying with the giant A380 in 2022
Lufthansa will retire its A380 until 2022
British Airways chooses 42 Boeing 777Xs instead of used A380s for sale
Airbus, which is converting the giant air assembly plant in Paris to dedicate to its manufacture starting in 2023 A320, the most successful commercial series, is committed to owning parts for the A380 and retaining a team to work on improving operating and cabin costs.
The rest of the workers will be distributed in other Airbus programs, including A350, a medium-to-long-range aircraft launched in 2006 in response to the Boeing 777, which is finding a good commercial response.
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