Airbus jumbo A380 jet heading to ‘certain death’ – analyst

The world’s largest commercial jet, the A380, is heading towards a “certain death”, according to an analyst.

The double-decker has been struggling with lack-lustre sales, forcing Airbus to scale back production.

It received a further jolt late last month after Airbus was forced to postpone the delivery of 12 A380 planes to Dubai-based Emirates Airline over the next two years, following an agreement between Emirates and engine supplier Rolls-Royce.

Six deliveries will be postponed from 2017 to 2018, with another six postponed from 2018 to 2019, the plane manufacturer said.

“Airbus re-confirms the target to deliver around 12 A380s per year from 2018 as announced earlier in July 2016. Further fixed cost reduction initiatives will be accelerated so the impact on break-even in 2017 is minimal,” the company said in a statement.

The delay damages the ability of Airbus to effectively market the sales of the struggling aeroplane, stated Saj Ahmad, chief analyst at StrategicAero Research.

“It also means that the loss making programme will endure a more uncertain future as the backlog shrinks and it is likely now, that in the absence of a newengine platform for it, the A380 is on borrowed time,” he added.

Emirates is the A380’s biggest customer and flies the jet to over 45 destinations across its network.

Its current fleet includes 89 A380s, with 53 more pending delivery. The airline took delivery of its latest A380 jet – and the first powered by a Rolls-Royce engine – on December 29.

“Yes they will allow it to die because as an engineering product, it is outdated when you consider the advances that the 787, A350 and 777X will bring,” opined Ahmad.