Turbulence Continues For Airbus A380 - Largest Passenger Aircraft in Commercial Aviation

Turbulence Continues For Airbus A380 - Largest Passenger Aircraft in Commercial Aviation

It has been rough flying for the Airbus A380, the big double-decker "superjumbo" aircraft that was once hailed as the future of commercial aviation and was destined to take over the skies. Only a few years ago experts were praising it:

"Airbus had the prescience to correctly anticipate an environment of high fuel prices, public clamor for quieter airports, fewer emissions, and less crowded skies. This is the kind of superior product vision that has served our industry so well," former Engine Alliance President Bruce Hughes said.

One Airbus customer said: "The A380 is the future of flying."

The problems began long before the inaugural flight in October 2007, but they have persisted since the maiden journey. With just 10 deliveries in 2009 and 23 in total since 2007, enthusiasm for this big aircraft has waned.

By all means, the A380 is a magnificent aircraft. It combines the very latest aeronautical technologies and with nearly 50 percent more floor space. It offers unparalleled comfort in every class and more open space for more than 550 passengers to stretch their legs.

The aircraft has significantly reduced noise and emissions levels so it minimizes the effects on the environment. Its new generation engines and advanced wing and undercarriage design mean the A380 not only complies with today's noise limits but is significantly quieter than its competitor, producing half as much noise on take-off.

The A380's weight-saving composite materials help make it a highly fuel-efficient aircraft. It burns 12 percent less fuel than its competitor and it also has reduced exhaust emissions. In every category the A380 seems like a winner.

So what went wrong? It is hard to put your finger on one reason - this is a massive project that took many years, cost billions of dollars and was the combined effort of thousands of people from several European countries. But we have highlighted a few major issues:

Design Changes

The cost increases due to ongoing design changes hit suppliers with production problems and this has taken a toll. The price of the airplane has doubled since its inception, while the market has contracted by a greater proportion.
As costs of the A380 continue, the overall development price tag has risen to over $15 billion US. Meanwhile, the market for the VLA (Very Large Aircraft) continues to erode, and a current EADS (European Aeronautic Defense and Space Company) review about what went wrong is not going to help the A380'S fortunes.

Reliability

Qantas and Emirates have concerns about the A380's reliability.

"We had a number of unrelated issues that have brought down dispatch reliability," said Emirates Airline president Tim Clark.

Qantas had high-profile problems when technical issues grounded all three of its A380's briefly. The airline said two A380's were declared "unserviceable with a fuel tank indication system problem", while the third "experienced a nose-wheel ground steering issue and an unrelated fuel leak issue".

The A380's newest customer, Air France, also experienced a string of embarrassing problems with the A380.

Economy

The recession has not been kind to commercial aviation as many airlines continue to lose money. The struggling industry faces another $5.6 billion of losses next year, on top of the $11 billion in 2009. Many airliners have cancelled orders for the A380 including Lufthansa, Virgin Airlines, Thai Airways, Fed Ex and others. Certainly the recession has been a chief factor for the aircraft's uncertain future.

The question remains - is the world ready for a VLA - or will it ever be ready for this enormous plane? Time will tell. But the money spent to find out the answer was probably not worth it. It may well go down in the history books like the Concorde SST.

Whatever happens to the A380, Boeing certainly looks like the winner in this race when it decided to drop their own VLA plans 5 years ago and opt for an expanded version of their successful 747 (the 747-8) instead.