Could A345 make QF7/8 non-stop and profitable?

[harvyk]

Maybe some A380 hotel in DXB? EK museum? Endless possibilities!

So that solves the problem for one maybe two of the A380's on retirement, what to do with the rest? Quite a few of the airlines which run the A380 have very short fleet turnarounds and as such there is going to be a glut of A380's in the very near future. It's almost funny that a perfectly serviceable aircraft would be headed for scrap whilst they continue to make more. From an environmental point of view, I'm a little surprised that green groups haven't started getting up in arms about it...

 

[markis10]

From an environmental point of view, I'm a little surprised that green groups haven't started getting up in arms about it...

Why would they get up in arms, they are effectively completely recycled? 787s are a different story.

 

[harvyk]

Why would they get up in arms, they are effectively completely recycled? 787s are a different story.

True, but neither the process of building an aircraft and then subsequently recycling it at the end is completely emission free. In fact the manufacturing process to develop so called "green tech" can be more damaging than simply building and using the normal "environmentally unfriendly" version over the whole life cycle. I do believe the Prius has this very problem, that whilst it is very environmentally friendly to run, the manufacturing and recycling process is really environmentally damaging compared to regular cars.

 

[Altair]

I wonder though, how would they be turning the fleet over? I can't see much of a 2nd hand market for the A380. Planes such as the 747 and the 767 made pretty good freighters, and a lot of the logistics companies don't mind having an older fleet. I can't see this happening for the A380 though.

It is not EK's problem. They will return the aircraft to the Lessors (Doric) who will see if there is another operator interested or sell it. Doric would have done the sums on returns and residual value and offered EK 12 year lease terms based on this.
Here is an article that discusses this very issues.

Clark said no A380 in the fleet would be retired in less than 12 years. In the case of Germany’s Doric GmbH, lessor of 14 A380s to Emirates (as well as five to Singapore International Airlines), he said the lease term is the longest of any aircraft that Emirates operates. “After 12 years, the arrangement we have with Doric falls away and the aircraft will be returned to them. That’s the deal we have with [A380 lessors]. Our first lease [with Doric]…was in July 2008 [for retirement] in July 2020.”

Full article ainonline.com

 

[Aussie Pete]

Reasons for earlier retirement of airplanes include the cost of redeployment. Most trades are baselined on half life, i.e. everything should have half its life left at changeover. This is of course impossible across everything so that's where the negotiations start. Some leases require planes fresh out of a major check, or the lessee pays into a maintenance reserve as the lease is run. When the airplane is returned the lessor draws from that maintenance reserve to restore the airplane. I wouldn't be surprised if examples like the 13 year old 777 are an opportunity for the lessor. Cash out the reserve, don't repaint, don't transfer to new jurisdiction, but instead pull all the parts and sell everything they can. Probably more economic.

Regarding QF 767/747 conversions to freighters there are a few key issues. Firstly, the 744 had RR engines - not that attractive in used market versus GE. Secondly, in terms of qty of airframes what do you deploy a 763 freighter to do? The only real economic runs in Australia are east-west so far as I know. For the rest the 737 freighters work better as they can do multiple overnight runs and will be full more often.

 

[cove]

I loved the SQ A345 that flew us to LAX from Singapore direct as a 100 seater all business class run.
That is where I developed the idea that two seats were better than one seeing changing the seat to a bed and back was complicated.
Too bad the plane had 4 fuel guzzling engines that made the plane obsolete before they were worn out.