EK Receives its 100th A380

[Flying Fox]

Middle Eastern airline Emirates has taken delivery of its 100th Airbus A380 at a ceremony at the plane manufacturer's delivery centre in Hamburg.

Giant fleet: Emirates now has 100 A380 superjumbos

Congrats to both. Hopefully there will be more A380s to come but I feels its days are numbered.

 

[moa999]

I don't know.
The Chinese airlines will eventually start buying them in big numbers to upgauge 777s out of congested airports.

EK and SQ are already beginning the replacement cycle (although where the 2H aircraft will finish is anyone's guess).

Airbus is just holding out on a big investment (hence the Plus offering) until a new engine comes along. Ideally a GTF that can also be used on the 350/787 twins.

Then I suspect Airbus will spend the money on a stretch and further optimise the wing -- and you will have a variant that can offer big CASM savings.

 

[sezza]

Will be interesting to see if the Dreamliner makes an impact against a380. My gut says no, but who knows!..

 

[jb747]

The economics of the 380 make the big twins extremely attractive. A load that would fill a twin, makes a loss on the 380. The congestion factor is a furphy...the aircraft can actually make ATC congestion worse, due to its nasty wake. Emirates has been dumping capacity on routes ever since it got the 380s. They work well, on a few restricted routes. They have little to no second hand value. They are too complex for most second string airlines. They will never have economy of scale in their manufacture or operation. Basically, a good aircraft, that was 5-7 years too late.