Hopes Boeing will fill superjumbo void
Boeing’s new aircraft with superjumbo dimensions could fill the shoes of the soon-to-become obsolete Airbus A380 in New Zealand, aviation experts say.
Last week Airbus announced it would end production of the world’s largest passenger plane in 2021, less than 14 years after its maiden flight. Just 17 more of the planes will be completed.
Emirates and Singapore Airlines are the only airlines flying A380s to New Zealand.
Emirates flies an A380 on its daily Dubai to Auckland route, and on a daily service to Christchurch from Dubai via Sydney.
In 2014 Singapore Airlines started flying an A380 daily between Singapore and Auckland during the summer months.
To accommodate bigger aircraft, such as the wider fourengine A380, both Auckland and Christchurch airports modified their runways.
In 2004 Auckland International Airport spent $37 million widening its runway and taxiways. It also spent $50m to build Pier B at the international terminal in 2007. A $120m Pier B extension that was completed last year provides two additional gate lounges and four airbridges, which could be used by large aircraft such as the A380.
In 2013 the airport invested $3.5m to upgrade its infrastructure to ensure it had enough dualboarding gates to simultaneously process three A380s.
Auckland Airport has five gates that support A380.
Christchurch International Airport also made its main runway wider in 2016.
Auckland Airport chief executive Adrian Littlewood said it built infrastructure to accommodate A380s with the knowledge that it would be required to accommodate other large aircraft. There was one model type in particular that it had in mind.
‘‘We knew the 777X had not been announced but we had an insight,’’ Littlewood said.
The 777X, which its manufacturer, Boeing, describes as the largest and most efficient twinengine jet in the world, is a new generation of aircraft with a wingspan of 72 metres.
Littlewood said the A380 and 777X had a similar geometry and were both dubbed ‘‘code F’’ planes in airport speak.
‘‘Our planning allowed for future code Fs, which meant that we weren’t really betting on the A380 being there forever.’’
The 777-9 is expected to make its first flight in the second quarter of 2019, with deliveries starting in 2020.
The end of Airbus’ A380 production would not change Auckland Airport’s future infrastructure plans, Littlewood said.
He said passengers would be sad to see the aircraft eventually go. ‘‘When you stand on the runway and watch them take off, they’re pretty extraordinary.’’
Twin-engine planes were more efficient, carrying greater numbers of passengers and travelling longer distances, he said.
Aviation consultant Irene King said she expected to see the 777X deployed on high-volume routes from New Zealand.
It was inevitable the A380’s time would come, she said.
‘‘It stuck out as an aircraft that couldn’t compete well in a twinengine environment where you’ve got a lot of efficiencies.’’
But A380s could be in service for another eight to 10 years. ‘‘As long as fuel prices remain low ... they can still move a heck of a lot of passengers very quickly.’’
New Zealand Airports Association chief executive Kevin Ward said most A380s were configured to carry about 500 passengers, which made them good people-movers.
But such a large aircraft was never that well suited to the New Zealand market because there was simply not the population to sustain a large number of them.
Auckland and Christchurch airports would probably still get a return on the investment they made in accommodating A380s because the aircraft had a remaining lifespan, he said.
Smaller, more fuel-efficient aircraft were better suited to servicing New Zealand, he said.