A380-800

Last November, Airbus announced it would reduce the production rate of the A380 to 1.8 per month from 2.5 by mid-2017. This capped the first zero-order year since the program was launched 10 years ago and made naysayers more than happy to spread gloomy comments about the future of the program. What a shortsighted assessment!
In reality, the A380 was a strategic coup by Airbus and will still be a fantastic asset for the company in the years ahead. Its birth may have been full of drama and setbacks, but it will be remembered as the aircraft that changed the competitive dynamics not only between Airbus and Boeing but also among international airlines. 
In the 1990s, the monopolistic position of Boeing’s 747-400 in the very-large-aircraft segment enabled the U.S. manufacturer to generate disproportionate profits, which it could then use to subsidize other product lines and invest in new R&D projects. Boeing had a huge competitive advantage over Airbus. But the launch of the A380 in 2006 essentially put an end to that situation, and orders for the 747 collapsed, effectively bringing the 747 passenger version to its end. 

Any profitability analysis of the A380 must take this into account. It may not yet make much profit on its own, but the aircraft contributed to a major market-power redistribution between Boeing and Airbus. It also meant that, for the first time, the Europeans became the “thought leaders” in one market segment. They were no longer trying to win market share through incremental innovation and catch up with Boeing; they aimed to set the standards of commercial aviation for the next half-century by introducing a completely new design and architecture that would fit the air travel demographics and constraints of tomorrow. Since then, major innovations introduced on the A380 in areas such as low-noise and low-emission engines, advanced materials, modular avionics and electrical power generation have benefited all the new Airbus programs.

Author Bio

Contributing columnist Antoine Gélain is managing director at Paragon European Partners, based in London.

pascal83 a écrit:Salut à tous
Petit problème sur le tableau airbus
J'ai bien trouvé les 3 ANA que je pense en non identifié
Mais 3 a380 sont aussi chez AIR ACCORD serait une société de leasing ?
Peu être un bug

Beochien a écrit:Ce que cherche Willie Walsh pour British Airways ?? De trés bon prix pour le A380 !
C'est tout ...

audac a écrit:Oui, mais sur le marché de l'occasion A380, il semble que la demande précède l'offre et ça ne va pas contribuer a faire baisser le prix du neuf. Le serpent se mord la queue.

Rolls-Royce will provide ANA Group with Trent 900 engines, worth $300m, for three new Airbus A380 aircraft