Originally Posted by
Sixth Freedom
That said, the 748 is much more economical than the 744 and 'everybody' knows that the 747 is the plane everybody hopes to see when they travel longhaul.
Even if there are other more economical aircraft out there having the 748 could be a unique selling point for BA that would potentially outweigh any additional costs.
But the issue seems to be that the A350 and 773 are even more economical than the 744 and 748 - taking all ops and maintenance costs into account.
That is what the worlds airlines also seem to be deciding....with the 380 being mainly used for very high pax capacity applications as opposed to direct 1 for 1 744 replacements (as Airbus no doubt had hoped for).