i think you might be misremembering the logic behind the 380 programme launch. The key logic was to relieve airport congestion by enabling consolidation on a few core routes, not least (and this was heavily mocked at the time) some key domestic Chinese routes, but also some of the ‘mammoth routes’ like SIN-LHR or LAX-NRT (at the time).

The congestion argument has largely worked and indeed you see quite a few 380s at LHR and JFK and LAX for a reason. The domestic market bet has so far not been successful though. I’m parallel, the likes of EK have found a use to the A380 that airbus had never really envisaged at the time (they thought their main customers would be the likes of SQ and LH) and their sheer numbers have given them a chance to redefine the plane use. That said, the A380 has never been intended to become a dominant aircraft type, just to cater to a niche very high capacity market and break boeing’s lucrative monopoly there with its then unchallenged 747s. Both goals have been achieved with visible success. The new challenge is that with both Airbus and Boeing’s efforts to produce much lighter and fuel efficient aircrafts, the 380 is now condemned to either be discontinued or be reinvented to match those new efficiency standards that did not exist when it was first conceived and that requires a heavy investment for a plane type which commercial prospects were always precisely niche.