Originally Posted by SEA_Tigger
......All the A330s, A340s, 757s, and 767s are going to need to be replaced over the next 20 years, and the A380 isn't the plane to replace them. The 7E7 will be the most efficient airliner around, and there will be a market for it.
So you will have hundreds of A380s shuttling passengers between the world's main hubs, then hundreds pf 7E7s moving them from those hubs to secondary airports, as well as directly connecting some secondary airports that don't have the traffic patterns to need an A380.
Globaliser, I think many others have said it better than I did. My original example wasn't a really good one to demontrate my point. However, as many have pointed out/argued, there will be a far greater market for 7E7 than A380. That's not to say the A380 is a mistake. I just don't think it will be able to relieve super-hubs congestion as many anticipate it to do. The 7E7 will no doubt be able to "connect the dots" on more routes, saving O&D traffic between those dots from going through super-hubs, and, as a result, decreases the traffic that currently causes congestion at these hubs.
Also, don't discount the need/wish for more flight choices by passengers (especially business passengers) to favor 7E7. While airlines might well save money by carrying more passengers with less frequent flights, some airlines might be able to generate more profit from higher revenue passengers by offering more frequent service. Just my opinion.
LAX