QANTAS cancels A380 superjumbos order
In another heavy blow to the already threatened A380, last month Qantas announced the cancellation of its order for eight Airbus superjumbos. “Following discussions with Airbus, Qantas has now formalised its decision not to take eight additional A380s that were ordered in 2006,” a Qantas spokesman said. “These aircraft have not been part of the airline’s fleet and network plans for some time,” he added, confirming the global trend of scepticism regarding the aircraft. This leaves only 79 aircraft in Airbus’ order book, including 53 for Emirates, 20 for leasing company Amedeo, three for All Nippon Airways and three for Air Accord.
However, a week before Qantas’ decision, Bloomberg reported that Emirates was also considering cancelling its last order for 20 A380s to order A350s instead. The order from the Gulf company allowed the A380 programme to survive. It seems now that the A380 is threatened more than ever.
The world’s largest customer of the Airbus A380 – Emirates - is reportedly studying the possibility of switching its recent superjumbo orders for the newer Airbus A350 wide-body. Airbus has confirmed it is in talks with the gulf carrier regarding the contract only a year after the plane maker scored the lifesaving deal for its double-decker plane.
Whilst rumours of a potential Chinese order have been spreading, IAG (British Airways, Iberia, Aer Lingus, Vueling and Level) could also be in negotiations with the European manufacturer to acquire more A380s. However, on 1 February 2019, IAG’s CEO Willie Walsh criticised the current list price of €400 million during a Oneworld event in London and said:
“I have made it very clear to Airbus that if it wishes to sell the aircraft, it will have to be more competitive with the price.”
The A380 recently lost its popularity with several airlines. In November 2018, Air France announced that following an audit of its network, it would trim down its A380 fleet by up to 50%. In June 2018, Singapore Airlines, the launch customer of the model, returned two superjumbos to lessor German investment company Dr. Peters Group. As the two A380s failed to find interest amongst other airlines, the Dr. Peters Group decided to scrap them and sell them for parts.