Probable A380 Program Termination This Week - No last minute BA Order
Feb 13, 2019, 1:46 am
#32
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With regards to the higher crew number, that is generally proportional to the number of extra pax carried though. The 380 capacity can be thought of as a 777 capacity on the lower deck and a 767 on the top. If you look at the cabin crew required for those two aircraft the combined total is more than an A380. Plus then you need 4 highly paid pilots to operate 2 aircraft whereas the A380 needs 2. Sometimes this is 3 on very long haul aircraft but that would be 6 for running 1x 777 and a 767 on the same route. So proportionally LESS crew
Feb 13, 2019, 1:52 am
#33
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With regards to the higher crew number, that is generally proportional to the number of extra pax carried though. The 380 capacity can be thought of as a 777 capacity on the lower deck and a 767 on the top. If you look at the cabin crew required for those two aircraft the combined total is more than an A380. Plus then you need 4 highly paid pilots to operate 2 aircraft whereas the A380 needs 2. Sometimes this is 3 on very long haul aircraft but that would be 6 for running 1x 777 and a 767 on the same route. So proportionally LESS crew
Feb 13, 2019, 1:52 am
#34
Join Date: Sep 2010
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Totally agree. It is an ugly girl, truly and another advantage of being inside an A380 is that you don't have look at her bulging exterior. But my, she is superb to fly on, amazing power, near turbulence exempt and one arrives (almost) as fresh as a daisy. If there is one good aircraft for nervous flyers it is this one, so smooth. 777s, oh what a contrast. I had a LHR-MAD on the 777-300 a few days back and I was glad to get off. I have two EZE coming up in the next few weeks and I'm dreading it. Awful aircraft.
Feb 13, 2019, 1:59 am
#35
Join Date: Nov 2010
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With regards to the higher crew number, that is generally proportional to the number of extra pax carried though. The 380 capacity can be thought of as a 777 capacity on the lower deck and a 767 on the top. If you look at the cabin crew required for those two aircraft the combined total is more than an A380. Plus then you need 4 highly paid pilots to operate 2 aircraft whereas the A380 needs 2. Sometimes this is 3 on very long haul aircraft but that would be 6 for running 1x 777 and a 767 on the same route. So proportionally LESS crew
Feb 13, 2019, 2:00 am
#36
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What you have to factor in is a far great growth in the Point to Point market rather than the Hub and Spoke model. Just look at the airframes which are doing well (787) and you can see which way things are going.
Feb 13, 2019, 2:04 am
#37
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Flexibility is a strong reason why they have not sold so well as expected - but on a route of year round high yield (HKG for example) it is proportionally less to run a single A380 rather than 2 separate smaller aircraft to haul the same number of pax. I wasn't suggesting that an A380 is always going to be lower cost than 2x smaller aircraft.
Feb 13, 2019, 2:16 am
#38
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A380 SuperNeoPlusXL launched in 2050 then?
Feb 13, 2019, 2:22 am
#39
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Interesting to note that some low frequency routes can quickly become too fat for B787 and larger aircraft have to be considered.
Feb 13, 2019, 2:24 am
#40
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Are there really that many airports with serious slot restrictions with the new Istanbul in soft opening, new Beijing opening later this year, etc.? Many airports are over capacity in terms of passenger turnover, but replacing A380s with smaller planes doesn't help a lot in these cases.
Feb 13, 2019, 2:25 am
#41
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But airline revenue management doesn't see it as their business to facilitate that.
They rather capture the dozen business passengers who pay for everyone else in the back, and those passengers need frequency.
Feb 13, 2019, 2:30 am
#42
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Feb 13, 2019, 3:00 am
#43
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Are there really that many airports with serious slot restrictions with the new Istanbul in soft opening, new Beijing opening later this year, etc.? Many airports are over capacity in terms of passenger turnover, but replacing A380s with smaller planes doesn't help a lot in these cases.
20 years later, the answer however has been more point-to-point (or point-to-hub) rather than congested hub to congested hub. Personally I think with the longer range single aisles starting to take-off (no pun intended) we may see this trend really accelerate now. Single aisle routes such as BRS-YYZ and NCL-ORD for example - yes I know the 757 has enabled this to some extent but those aircraft are at least 20 years old and at least two previous engine generations. The A32X NEO series aircraft take this to another level with fuel efficiency.
Feb 13, 2019, 3:12 am
#44
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I have always wondered if EK was a blessing in disguise for the A380 - on the one hand they have taken >100 frames but would more total have been sold to the traditional big 744 operators mentioned above if EK had not decimated their traditional Europe to Middle East, Asia and Australia markets by siphoning everything through DXB. One can only wonder about this....
Feb 13, 2019, 3:28 am
#45
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