The 747 was never the right aircraft for the north Atlantic, even when the market was dominated by hub-to-hub service. There was rampant overcapacity and bad economics on the north Atlantic when the 747 ruled it 1970-82. Remember that most airlines bought them not because they were a great fit, but because all their competitors were buying them. Nobody wanted to lose the prestige war. The smarter US carriers (AA and at the time DL) with no Asia routes dumped their 747s pretty quickly.

In point of fact there aren't a high number of markets worldwide where the 747 is ideal, the Kangaroo Route and USA-SYD being two. Even most transpac routes are now better served by the 777.

Today the trend is towards "long, thin" routes (think CVG-MUC instead of JFK-LHR) and frequency, so the 747 is even less relevant. The dominant a/c on the north Atlantic has for years been the 767. It's no accident that the only two US carriers still operating them are the only two with a significant transpac business.

The A380 will never be of more than limited relevance. It will probably never serve more than fifteen or twenty super-hub airports around the world.