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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsAirports Worried the A380 Was Too Big. Turns Out, That Wasn't the Problem.
When Airbus SE rolled out plans in 2000 to build the worlds biggest passenger jeta 555-seat super jumboskeptics warned it would be too heavy, too tall and too long for many airports. Officials at the worlds biggest hubs scrambled to upgrade facilities to accommodate the behemoth.
Instead, what doomed the jet was something altogether differenta new breed of smaller jets that could bypass those giant airports in the first place.
Airbus said Thursday it would stop making the A380 in 2021, after orders dried up and some of the planes biggest early fans backtracked on commitments. Boeing Co. realized around the time the A380s development began that with technological advancements, like carbon fiber parts and super-efficient engines, it could make smaller jets that flew as far as the big boys.
Airlines, it turns out, preferred them to the A380 and Boeings own humpbacked giant, the 747. The smaller jets were easier to fill and could fly direct to more places around the world without funneling through hubs. Airbus woke up to the new demand, and came up with its own smaller plane eventually.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/airports-worried-the-a380-was-too-big-turns-out-that-wasnt-the-problem/ar-BBTCltq?li=BBnb7Kz&ocid=mailsignout
Dennis Donovan
(18,770 posts)Not these little, semi-rigid blimp-like things. I'm talking like the Graf Zeppelin!
Why not? We have a Nazi in charge here just like Germany in the 30's.
LastLiberal in PalmSprings
(12,590 posts)It's told through the eyes of the only woman reporter aboard.
Dennis Donovan
(18,770 posts)I know, through technology, the old, rigid zeps would be impractical today, but it must've been something to see an 800 ft long behemoth floating over your head!
cwydro
(51,308 posts)Going to watch it later. Im on my own journey around the planet right now, so I look forward to it.
onenote
(42,737 posts)mainer
(12,022 posts)I loved that plane. And the cocktail lounge at the aft!