With only 251 sales and 30 billion euros in cost, the A380 is a super plane as much as a financial abyss. What is certain is that there will be less and less each year in the sky. Companies that part with them and can't sell them second-hand. The devices will therefore be boned and recycled as much as possible.
The assembly of the latest Airbus A380 is underway in Toulouse. End of career for this giant of the air, but tomorrow what will it really become?
It depends on the companies! Last year, Air France completely ejected its 10 A380s from its fleet. End of the story. Too complicated to operate, the company justifies itself given its extraordinary size. Air France has replaced them with smaller aircraft, and above all less greedy, A350-900s which consume 20 to 30% less kerosene than the juggernaut. Reverse strategy at Singapore Air Line, which keeps its 19 aircraft at all costs. It is even investing to increase the number of seats in order to make the 14 air routes provided by its A380s more profitable. It is also the super darling of Emirates which has 123 in its fleet and the last one which will be delivered in the summer of 2021 is promised to it. They have traveled more than a billion kilometers and the company boasts of having carried more than 105 million passengers on board.
Why has production of the A380 been stopped?
It cost 30 billion euros instead of 10 billion, three times more expensive than expected. It is a great financial abyss for the plane of all superlatives. Super jumbo, super revolutionary, more than 800 passengers transported in this giant of the sky, vast and silent, Super symbol of the success of Airbus against Boeing but also great commercial failure with only 251 sales in total. Between the first delivery in 2007 and the last in 2021, only 14 short years will pass. What a short career for an airplane! It is a record even, the A380 is therefore already retired. For comparison, the Boeing 747 Jumbo jet still exists after 51 years of operation.
How much longer can we enjoy it?
This aircraft has a lifespan of approximately 25 years. If he resists the "Shame on the plane" movement, that leaves time to afford a trip to this endangered species. What is certain is that there will be less and less each year in the sky. The companies which separate from them do not find buyers on the second-hand market which also exists for airplanes. So the solution is breakage. The devices are boned from A to Z. This is the jackpot for specialized companies responsible for dismantling them. Spare parts like landing gear are worth gold, but not everything is sold. Plastic parts must also be recycled, 93% of the A380 is recyclable. This is how tomorrow in our everyday objects, bottle, watering can, chair, there will be a bit of the A380.