About 15 years ago, the notorious Airbus A380 was dubbed as the future of aviation and a solution for some of the most pressing problems airlines were predicted to face. But today, it is considered to be one of the most expensive failures in aviation history. This colossal passenger aircraft is unofficially known as the King of the Skies, is massive in size, comfortable, can be fitted as a flying hotel with luxury amenities and flies 14,800 kilometers on one tank.
However, airlines never really liked it all that much and the situation escalated to the point that it became a hated, doomed aircraft and its biggest fan and operator, Emirates Airlines, regrets buying nearly half of all units ever produced by Airbus. What's wrong with this dream aircraft turned nightmare. Is it an engineering and design issue or something else?
Let's take a detailed tour of why the A380 became aviation's most failed mega project. Allow us to start by dropping a bombshell. There is absolutely nothing wrong with the engineering and design of the A380. It is by all means a modern engineering marvel and impressive achievement.
that proved beyond any doubt that the human race is capable of building flying cities. From capacity, low maintenance costs, and extra space to speed and range, the A380 is definitely a record-setter and unparalleled. Yet it cost its manufacturer more than $25 billion to develop, and very few units were sold since most of the current global fleet is owned by one airline.
and the whole project was scrapped. Hold on a minute. The plane is the best and biggest ever built, is effective and efficient, but failed. So what on earth is wrong with it? Well, the answer is actually quite simple and can be summed in three words.
Price, market, demand. When Airbus decided to build something bigger and better than the notorious Boeing 747, It really went the extra mile and delivered exactly as promised. However, the company's simple logic turned out to be flawed. The company bet that the market will continue to grow at the expected rate of doubling every 15 years, with more people wanting to travel longer distances without stopping, even if it costs more. Airbus did not come up with these statistics because it was a common fact, and it is also sort of true because two decades ago, everyone in the aviation industry was convinced that airports would become more and more overwhelmed by the sheer number of passengers, and thus only massive planes can come to the rescue and eliminate bottlenecks with more direct flights and fewer transit stops.
But as it turned out, Airbus and everyone else failed to punch the fact that governments and private airport operators were also aware of these stats and thus planned to double and even triple capacity not just for passengers but also for accommodating planes while increasing the efficiency of transit. Additionally, the number of airports worldwide has dramatically risen in the past 20 years and they have also become more and more comfortable and fun. with plenty of natural light, amenities and even entertainment venues.
So, to the dismay of Airbus, not only their prediction was flawed, but the world's new center of gravity for business activities, tourism and aviation, Asia, also experienced indescribable growth in terms of airport capacity. Giant markets such as China and India also turned away from large jumbo planes, and preferred medium and semi-large planes because the demand for internal flights became unbelievably high and has quadrupled in a mere decade leading to insane demand for narrow-body aircraft. The A380 is also quite expensive, overly too huge to fill and thus expensive to operate.
It also became apparent to airlines that since capacity and quality at airports are increasing while technology is substantially improving, And air travel is no longer about getting people in and out of airports fast, since they have become entertainment, shopping, and convention centers. It is simply cheaper and better to operate smaller aircrafts such as the A350 and A330. There was also the issue of filling the A380, even though most people still prefer to fly from A to B directly without... stops, they are not willing to pay more while also waiting for the airline to fill the A380 with 850 passengers.
This is a huge issue because today, even filling a plane with 350 people is not easy except during seasons and on ultra-busy routes. Boeing's B787, for example, seats around half as many passengers as the A380. And just like the A350 and A330 offers better operating economics, lower costs, smaller capacity, and therefore less pressure to fill every seat, the A380 also features four engines that in the past 12 years have become sort of a burden. Not just due to costs, but also due to the simple fact that newer engines found on late model twin-engined aircraft are much more efficient and thus cheaper to operate and maintain.
These facts and realities did not just lead to the failure of the A380, but are the reason why its main competitor, the Boeing 747, is longer produced even though it has been around for five decades. This is why the sky is full of Boeing 747-8s and 9s and Airbus 350s and 330s. These aircraft are easier to fill with passengers, consume about half or less the amount of fuel as the A380, are cheaper to maintain and have quite impressive ranges making direct flights of more than 12 000 kilometers feasible so even though the a380 is a true king of the sky amazing and an engineering wonder that could have led to something even more immense and advanced in aviation it simply died due to the lack of demand due to simple economics mind you that the a380 and even the b747 can make a comeback If demand for such aircraft reaches a particular level in the future, and needless to say, the new variants will be insanely intriguing. How about we now decipher the A380 by comparing it to the legendary B747? The A380 holds the crown as the largest commercial passenger aircraft ever built.
With a length of 73 meters and a wingspan of 79.8 meters, It can accommodate up to 853 passengers in a typical three-class configuration. Its double-decker layout provides plenty of space for amenities such as bars, lounges, and even showers. The Boeing 747 measures 71 meters in length and has a wingspan of 65 meters. In a typical configuration, the B747 can carry around 520 passengers.
It is a very big plane, but the layout does not allow for additional features such as a bar and full private suites. Bigger always means higher costs. Thus, the A380's size and capacity come at a cost.
It requires more fuel to operate, making it less fuel efficient compared to its counterpart, the B747. In terms of cargo space, both planes boast about 175 cubic meters for good storage. The A380 offers an impressive range of 14,800 km and a cruising speed of Mach 0.85, while the B747 has a range of around 14,000 km or more depending on the variant and a speed of Mach 0.855.
The range of the A380 beats the B747. Even though the difference is not overwhelming, it is enough to give confidence to ultra-long-haul operators. It is difficult to set a current price for these jets since they are no longer produced. All A380s and B747s that get acquired in future years will be second-hand planes. Aviation giants also do not disclose the prices, which fluctuate based on the size of the order.
Nevertheless, both planes have a price that hovers around $425 million. with recent second-hand models going for as much as $360 million. The bottom line, both the A380 and B747 are great planes, and the only reason they have been discontinued is simply economics. But do not be surprised in 5 or 10 years if the king and queen of the sky are revived with some insane new technologies, especially in terms of engines and green fuel. Right now both Boeing and Airbus are testing new electric engines that are powered by hydrogen fuel cells and also combustion engines that are powered by green hydrogen.
Hence, breakthroughs in these technologies just might make the A380 and B747 worth another shot. Do you think the A380 will return? Was it worth developing? Or was it a mistake? And planes of such size are not needed altogether.
Let us know in the comment section. Thank you for watching and please like, share, subscribe and hit the bell icon.