"We have a further ten-month delay ... The position is very serious for Emirates and we are now reviewing all options."If Emirates cancels its order for 43 planes, the A380 could be pretty much doomed. Lufthansa, the second largest customer, has ordered only 15. If it wasn't for European egos and government support, this project would have already been killed by now. Why not just let it out of its misery.
This growing mess only supports my thesis that the A380 is destined to be Europe's Spruce Goose, Howard Hughes' gigantic wooden plane that only flew once, a few feet above water. Airbus' flying coffin may not be wooden, but it sure looks closer to its funeral.
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This morning's Volkskrant reminds those too young to have been there that the 747 was waaaaaaaaaay delayed when it launched. 40 years on, nobody talks about that anymore.
Yes indeed, the 747 was delayed by about a year around 1970. But if you were to add the delays for the A380, we would see a delay that is waaaay longer. And we have to keep in mind that the 747 hit a bullseye with its design, while the A380 is missing the move to smaller planes for shorter flights by most carriers. I still stand by my thesis that the superjumbo is a super mess. If not a spruce goose, than at the A380 will be a Concorde -- an expensive ego trip that will never make money.
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